Clinical Pharmacology & Biopharmaceutics
Open Access

Abstract

Globimetula braunii mistletoe is widely distributed in the tropical countries including Ghana, Cameroun and Nigeria where it is amongst the ingredients of many herbal medicines. The plant is used as a recipe for treating hypertension, rheumatism, epilepsy, infertility, stomach problems, diabetes and as a laxative. Most of these ethno-pharmacological uses have been validated scientifically on the crude extract. Inspite of the considerable information on biological properties of G. braunii mistletoe, there is an acute paucity of data on the secondary metabolites responsible for the observed effects. The ethanolic extract of G. braunii leaves, after successive extraction with various organic solvents gave different fractions and the ethyl acetate portion afforded two new hydroxyphenyl-ethyl octalactones; 4,6-dihydroxy-8-[2-(4-hydroxy-phenyl)-ethyl]-oxocan-2-one and 6-hydroxy-8-[2-(4-hydroxy-phenyl)-ethyl]-5,6,7,8- tetrahydro-oxocin-2-one. The structures of the two isolated compounds were determined by spectroscopic analyses, particularly, the 1 and 2D - NMR. The two compounds isolated in this work might probably, contribute to the observed biological activities and the recently reported anti-convulsant effect exhibited by the ethyl acetate fraction of this plant.

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