PARTE UTILIZADA= Used part: Hojas frescas.

ACCIÓN FARMACOLÓGICA= Pharmacological action: Antiséptico, úlceras y heridas, micosis, astringente, amargo, tónico.

ZONA GEOGRÁFICA= Geografical zone: Brasil y NE de Argentina. 

DIVERSIDAD GENÉTICA Y MEJORAMIENTO DE PLANTAS MEDICINALES= Medicinal plants and improvement of medicinal herbs

The Vernonieae is one of the major tribes of the largest family of flowering plants, the sunflower family (Compositae or Asteraceae), with ca. 25,000 species. While the family's basal members (the Barnadesioideae) are found in South America, the tribe Vernonieae originated in the area of southern Africa/Madagascar. Its sister tribe, the Liabeae, is New World, however. This is the only such New/Old World sister tribe pairing anywhere in the family. The Vernonieae is now found on islands and continents worldwide and includes more than 1500 taxa. The Vernonieae has been called the "evil tribe" because overlapping character states make taxonomic delimitations difficult at all levels from the species to the subtribe for the majority of taxa. Juxtaposed with these difficult-to-sep. entities are monotypic genera with highly distinctive morphologies and no obvious affinities to any other members of the tribe. The taxonomic frustration generated by these contrary circumstances has resulted in a lack of any phylogeny for the tribe until now. A combined approach using DNA sequence data from two chloroplast regions, the ndhF gene and the noncoding spacer trnL-F, and from the nuclear rDNA ITS region for 90 taxa from throughout the world was used to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the tribe. The data were analyzed sep. and in combination using max. parsimony (MP), min. evolution neighbor-joining (NJ), and Bayesian anal., the latter producing the best resolved and most strongly supported tree. In general, the phylogeny shows Old World taxa to be basal and New World taxa to be derived, but this is not always the case. Old and New World species are found together in two sep. and only distantly related clades. This is best explained by long-distance dispersal with a min. of two trans-oceanic exchanges. Meso/Central America has had an important role in ancient dispersals between the Old and New World and more recent movements from South to North America in the New World.

ÚLTIMOS AVANCES EN LA QUÍMICA Y ACTIVIDADES BACTERIOLÓGICAS EN LAS PLANTAS MEDICINALES= Medicinal plants, last advances on chemistry and bacteria activities on the medicinal herbs

1) In this study, the inhibitory effect of Elephantopus mollis H.B. and K. ext. on melanogenesis in B16 murine melanoma cells was examd. and possible mechanisms were elucidated.  The melanin content in B16 cells decreased when they were treated with E. mollis ext.  Inhibition was accompanied by reduced expression of tyrosinase (TYR) and tyrosinase-related protein 1 (TRP1).  Furthermore, the expression level of microphthalmia-assocd. transcription factor (MITF), a major transcriptional regulator of genes encoding melanogenic enzymes such as Tyr and Trp1, decreased as assessed by western blotting and quant. reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).  These results suggest that E. mollis ext. reduces melanogenesis by downregulating Mitf expression, leading to reduced expression of Tyr and Trp1.  In addn., melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) expression was downregulated by E. mollis ext., suggesting desensitization to alpha-MSH (alpha-MSH) of cells treated with the ext.

2) Three new sesquiterpene lactones, (4betaH)-5alpha-hydroxy-8alpha-(2-methylbut-2-enoyloxy)-2-oxo-1(10),11(13)- guaiadien-12,6alpha-olide (1), (4betaH)-8alpha-(2-methylbut-2-enoyloxy)-2-oxo-1(5),10(14),11(13)- guaiatrien-12,6alpha-olide (2) and 2,5-epoxy-2beta-hydroxy-4alpha-methoxy-8alpha-(2-methylbut-2-enoyloxy)- 4(15),10(14),11(13)-germacratrien-12,6alpha-olide (3), have been isolated from roots and stems of Elephantopus mollis together with two known sesquiterpene lactones (4, 5).  The identification of the isolates was accomplished by spectroscopic methods.  Compds. (1-5) exhibited significant cytotoxic activities against mouse neuroblastoma B104 cells.

3) Molephantin, molephantinin (I, R = H, Me) and phantomolin (II) were isolated from E. mollis together with beta-amyrin acetate, lupeol acetate, epifriedelanol, and stigmasterol and their stereostructures detd. on the basis of spectral evidence and chem. transformations.  Molephantinin and phantomolin were potent inhibitors of Ehrlich ascites carcinoma and Walker 256 carcinosarcoma, whereas molephantinin also had antileukemic activity. 

Leaf: Used as a tonic or a diaphoretic, or macerated between the hands and the juice then applied externally to relieve itching, especially due to athlete's foot.

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Origin

Jamaica

Folk medicinal uses

This plant appears to be fairly commonly termed "iron weed" in the Irish Town area. It is said to be used to make tea for colds and back pains: in the latter case the tea is drunk with rum or the plant is combined with Desmodium spp. and water grass (Commelina sp.) to prepare the drink. Old writers say that it is a good vulnerary and that the leaves were commonly used in the French islands as a tonic and diaphoretic.

1) TOURSARKISSIAN, Martín.  Plantas medicinales de Argentina : sus nombres botánicos, vulgares, usos y distribución geográfica. Buenos Aires : Hemisferio Sur, 1980, p.30.

2) LORENZI, Harri; MATOS, José de Abreu. Plantas medicinais no brasil: nativas e exóticas . Nova Odessa, SP: Instituto Plantarum, 2002. p. 160.

3) KEELEY, Sterling C.; FORSMAN, Zac H.; CHAN, Raymund. A phylogeny of the "evil tribe" (Vernonieae: Compositae) reveals Old/New World long distance dispersal: Support from separate and combined congruent datasets (trnL-F, ndhF, ITS). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 2007, vol., nº1, p.89-103.
 
4) HASEGAWA, Kiyotaka, et al. Inhibitory effect of Elephantopus mollis H.B. and K. extract on melanogenesis in B16 murine melanoma cells by downregulating microphthalmia-associated transcription factor expression. Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry. 2010, vol.74, nº9, p.1908-1912.
 
5) TABOPDA, Turibio Kuiate, et al.  Further cytotoxic sesquiterpene lactones from Elephantopus mollis Kunth. Chemical & Pharmaceutical Bulletin . 2008, vol.56, nº2, p.231-233.
 
6) LEE, Kuo-Hsiung, et al. Antitumor agents.  XXXVIII:  Isolation and structural elucidation of novel germacranolides and triterpenes from Elephantopus mollis.  Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences . 1980, vol.69, nº9, p.1050-6.

7) Robertt, A., et al.. Medicinal Plants of the Guianas (Guyana, Suriname, French Guyana)/Smithsonian NMNH. cited online: 17-08-2017.

8) Asprey, G.F; Phylis Thornton/ Medicinal plants of Jamaica. Parts III & IV. – p. 53.