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

The nuclear DNA C-values of 13 alien invasive, 6 native and 1 alien non-invasive plant species from 10 genera of 8 families were measured with flow cytometer. The mean nuclear DNA C-value of the 13 alien invasive species was significantly lower than those of the native and alien non-invasive species, but no consistent regularity was found for different species of the same genus. In the four genera including both alien invasive and native species, all the alien invasive species in Eupatorium and Bidens and one of the two alien invasive species in Alternanthera had significantly lower nuclear DNA C-values than their native congeners, while the alien invasive species in Peperomia had significantly higher nuclear DNA C-values than the native species. Thus, there was no certain correlation between nuclear DNA C-value and alien plant invasiveness. 

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 paper, in vitro antioxidant and in vivo antiulcer activities of methanolic ext. of Alternanthera pungens.  Antioxidant activity was detd. by two in vitro methods-DPPH and H2O2 radical scavenging.  To study the antiulcer activity of methanolic ext. of Alternanthera pungens (100 and 200 mg/Kg) using different models of ulceration in rats viz., aspirin induced ulcer and cold restraint stress induced gastric lesions in rats.  While in aspirin and cold restraint stress induced models, ulcer index and % inhibition of gastric ulcers was detd.  Famotidine (20 mg/Kg) was used as a ref. drug.  Methanolic ext. of Alternanthera pungens treated animals exhibited protective effect on ulceration induced by aspirin induced ulcer and cold restraint stress in rats.  Control animals had ulcers, while animal treated with methanolic ext. of Alternanthera pungens showed redn. in ulcers in the models in a dose dependent manner; it significantly (p < 0.001) decreased the vol. of gastric acid secretion and also reduced with respect to control and comparable to the std. drug.

2) Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPCase, EC 4.1.1.3) is a key enzyme of C4 photosynthesis.  It has evolved from ancestral non-photosynthetic (C3) isoforms and thereby changed its kinetic and regulatory properties.  We are interested in understanding the mol. changes, as the C4 PEPCases were adapted to their new function in C4 photosynthesis and have therefore analyzed the PEPCase genes of various Alternanthera species.  We isolated PEPCase cDNAs from the C4 plant Alternanthera pungens H.B.K., the C3/C4 intermediate plant A. tenella Colla, and the C3 plant A. sessilis (L.) R.Br. and investigated the kinetic properties of the corresponding recombinant PEPCase proteins and their phylogenetic relationships.  The three PEPCases are most likely derived from orthologous gene classes named ppcA.  The affinity const. for the substrate phosphoenolpyruvate (K0.5 PEP) and the degree of activation by glucose-6-phosphate classified the enzyme from A. pungens (C4) as a C4 PEPCase isoform.  In contrast, both the PEPCases from A. sessilis (C3) and A. tenella (C3/C4) were found to be typical C3 PEPCase isoenzymes.  The C4 characteristics of the PEPCase of A. pungens were accompanied by the presence of the C4-invariant serine residue at position 775 reinforcing that a serine at this position is essential for being a C4 PEPCase (Svensson et al. 2003).  Genomic Southern blot expts. and sequence anal. of the 3' untranslated regions of these genes indicated the existence of PEPCase multigene family in all three plants which can be grouped into three classes named ppcA, ppcB and ppcC.

3) From the 2-butanone fraction derived out of the aq. alc. ext. of the fresh aerial parts of Alternanthera pungens, three C-glycoflavones, vitexin (1), isovitexin (2) and orientin (3) and an yellow solid composed of their 2''-O-beta-D-glucopyranosides (4-6) were isolated and characterized.  Fully assigned sets of proton and carbon resonances, based on detailed 1D and 2D NMR measurements, including 1H COSY, HMQC and HMBC expts., enabled the deduction of definitive evidence for the C- and the O-glycosidic linkages of the three biosides.  Antioxidant potential of these six compds. was evaluated using two different assays, namely, the Trolox equiv. antioxidant capacity and the coupled oxidn. of beta-carotene and linoleic acid (autoxidn.) assays.  Compds. 3 and 6 were fairly active while the others were mildly active in both the assays.

4) A. pungens, commonly known as "yerba del pollo", is widely used as a folk medicine.  Anthraquinone O- and C-glycosides were detected in the fruit.  Two saponin heterosides were also isolated, whose genins were oleanolic acid and beta-sitosterol, with glucose as glycosidic moiety in both.  Two quaternary ammonium bases, choline, and acetylcholine were detected.  Exts. of the fruits showed dose-dependent purgative activity when administered orally to mice.

PARTE UTILIZADA=Used part: Partes aéreas. 

ACCIÓN FARMACOLÓGICA= Pharmacological action: Descongestionante, diurética, antiinflamatorio, contra malestares hepáticos, problemas renales, diarreas en niños y problemas de dentición en niños. 

POSOLOGÍA= Posology: En generalse usa la decocción de la parte aérea de la planta, aunque también se emplea la infusión.

COMPOSICIÓN QUÍMICA= Chemical composition: Se ha reportado la presencia de esteroides triterpenos-alfa y beta-espinasterol, saponinas leucoantocianidinas y alcaloides. El aceite esencial está constituido por: canfeno, alfa-pineno, mirceno, p-cimeno, limoneno, alfa-cimeno, 1.8-cineol, (-)-tuyona, bomeol, curcumeno, alcanfor, acetato de bomilo, terpinoleno, linalol, alfa-terpineol, acetato de elemol, eudesmol y azuleno. 

ZONA GEOGRÁFICA= Geografical zone: Uruguay y Argentina. 

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Enfermedad o síntoma
Dolor de estómago

Disentería

Parte utilizada
Hoja, tallo, flor y fruto

Raíz

Forma de preparación
Infusión

Decocción

Modo de administración
Vía oral

Baños de asiento

Origen
Tucumán, Argentina

Summary
Alternanthera pungens (Amaranthaceae), also known by the common name  of yerba del pollo, is a native herb from South America, more specifically from Bolivia, Paraguay, Southern Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina, although it is also considered a weed in Europe and Asia. Mostly used in the treatment of skin and digestive disorders, very few studies have focused on the biological activities of this species, with the sole exception of one clinical trial to determine the effect of its consumption on the antioxidant defenses and immune system of HIV patients.

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Origen
“Cariri Paraibano”, Brazil
Medicinal indication
- Against grippes, headaches and abdominal pains: Aerial parts
- As vermifuge: Inflorescences

1) ALONSO PAZ, Eduardo; BASSAGODA, María Julia; FERREIRA, Fernando. Yuyos : uso racional de las plantas medicinales. Montevideo : Fin de siglo, 1992, p.108.

2) 270 (doscientos setenta) plantas medicinales iberoamericanas. Santiago de Bogotá : CYTED-SECAB, 1995, p.12.

3) FU, Gai-lan; FENG, Yu-long. Nuclear DNA C-value of alien invasive and native plants and its relationship with invasiveness. Shengtaixue Zazhi. 2007, vol.,26 nº10, p.1590-1594.

4)MEERA, R.; DEVI, P. Antioxidant and antiulcer activities of methanolic extract of Alternanthera pungens. Asian Journal of Chemistry. 2009, vol.21, nº7, p.5639-5643.

5) GOWIK, U., et al. Evolution of C4 phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase in the genus Alternanthera: gene families and the enzymatic characteristics of the C4 isozyme and its orthologs in C3 and C3/C4 Alternantheras. Planta. 2006, vol.223, nº2, p.359-368.

6) PETRUS, A. J. A.; SEETHARAMAN, T. R. Antioxidant flavone C-biosides from the aerial parts of Alternanthera pungens. Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. 2005, vol.67, nº2, p.187-193.

7)CALDERON, Claudia P.; GARCIA ASEFF, Susana B.; FUENTES, Lucia B.; LOPEZ DE RUIZ, Rosa E.; FUSCO, Maria; SOSA, Angela; RUIZ, Sohar O. Constituents and purgative activity of fruits of Alternanthera pungens. Acta Farmaceutica Bonaerense. 1996, vol.15, nº3, p.153-158.

8) ALONSO, Jorge ; DESMARCHELIER, Cristian. Plantas medicinales autóctonas de la Argentina : bases científicas para su aplicación en atención primaria de la salud.  Buenos Aires: L.O.L.A, 2005, p. 597.

9) Plantas medicinales autóctonas de la Argentina. Bases científicas para su aplicación en atención primaria de la salud / Jorge Alonso y Cristian Jorge Desmarchelier. - 1a ed. - Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires: Corpus Libros Médicos y Científicos, 2015.

10) Ceballos, Sergio J.; Perea Mario C./ Boletín Latinoamericano y del Caribe de Plantas Medicinales y Aromáticas, vol 13, no 1, 2014. - p. 47 - 68

11) M.F. Agra; et al/ Medicinal and poisonous diversity of the flora of “Cariri Paraibano”, Brazil/ Journal of Ethnopharmacology 111 (2007), p. 386.