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Trial lecture - time and place
22.05.2024, 10.15, Auditorium 2, Helga Eng
Quantitative NMR (qNMR) for natural product analysis - opportunities, challenges and applications
Conferral summary
I dette prosjektet ble historiske kilder fra begynnelsen av 1900-tallet om bruk av medisinplanter i Skandinavia gjennomgått, med fokus på planter brukt mot infeksjonssykdommer og magelidelser. Det ble identifisert 79 planter, og for 23 av plantene ble ekstrakter og fraksjoner isolert fra vannavkoket undersøkt for effekter på celler i immunsystemet. Struktur av polysakkarider og polyfenoler, to naturstoffgrupper som er anerkjent for lovende immunomodulerende egenskaper, fra tysbastbark og røttene til fjellkvann og strandkvann ble bestemt.
Main research findings
In human medicine, there is an ever increasing need to find new disease treatments, due to re-emergence of infectious diseases and multidrug resistance. Historical records consist of valuable data on the use and efficacy of medicinal plants that can be exploited in the search for novel drugs. In an attempt to explore this approach further, Scandinavian historical sources were reviewed to find plants used against inflammation and/or gastrointestinal diseases. The extracts and fractions of 23 understudied medicinal plants were subjected to screening for immunomodulatory effects. Based on their promising results, the bark of D. mezereum and roots of A. archangelica subsp. archangelica, A. archangelica subsp. litoralis were chosen for further studies. Through purification of the hot-water extract of these plants, several polysaccharide fractions were isolated. Assessing their pro-inflammatory properties, revealed that pectins, a type of plant polysaccharide, from A. archangelica and D. mezereum, in addition to a Daphne polysaccharide fraction consisting of arabinan, arabinogalactan, mannans, and xyloglucans to be the most prominent immunomodulators. Furthermore, 21 phenolic constituents were also isolated from the water and 50% EtOH extract of D. mezereum. Among the isolates, 11 known compounds and seven novel compounds are reported in the species for the first time.