Objective:To investigate the antimicrobial property of mangrove plant Sonneratia alba (S. alba). Methods: The antimicrobial activity was evaluated using disc diffusion and microdilution methods against six microorganisms. Soxhlet apparatus was used for extraction with a series of solvents, n-hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol in sequence of increasing polarity. Results:Methanol extract appeared to be the most effective extract while n-hexane extract showed no activity. The antimicrobial activities were observed against the gram positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Bacillus cereus (B. cereus), the gram negative Escherichia coli (E. coli) and the yeast Cryptococcus neoformans. Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans appeared to be not sensitive to the concentrations tested since no inhibition zone was observed. E. coli (17.5 mm) appeared to be the most sensitive strain followed by S. aureus (12.5 mm) and B. cereus (12.5 mm). Conclusions:From this study, it can be concluded that S. alba exhibits antimicrobial activities against certain microorganisms.

Plant-derived triterpenoids commonly possesses biological properties such as anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-viral and anti-cancer. Luvunga scandens is one of the plant that produced triterpenoids. The aims of the study was to analyze cell cycle profile and to determine the expression of p53 unregulated modulator of apoptosis (PUMA), caspase-8 and caspase-9 genes at mRNA level in MCF-7 cell line treated with two triterpenoids, flindissol (1) and 3-oxotirucalla-7,24-dien-21-oic-acid (2) isolated from L. scandens. The compounds were tested for cell cycle analysis using flow cytometer and mRNA expression level using quantitative RT-PCR. The number of MCF-7 cells population which distributed in Sub G1 phase after treated with compound 1 and 2 were 7.7 and 9.3% respectively. The evaluation of the expression of genes showed that both compounds exhibited high level of expression of PUMA, caspase-8 and caspase-9 as normalized to β-actin via activation of those genes. In summary, the isolated compounds of L. scandens plant showed promising anticancer properties in MCF-7 cell lines.
Apoptosis ; Caspase 8 ; Caspase 9 ; Cell Cycle Checkpoints* ; Cell Cycle* ; Flow Cytometry ; G1 Phase ; Gene Expression* ; MCF-7 Cells* ; Plants ; Puma ; RNA, Messenger

This paper reports in vitro cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory and adipocyte diffentiation with adipogenic effects of coumarins inophyllum D (1) and calanone (2), and a chromanone carboxylic acid namely isocordato-oblongic acid (3) isolated from Calophyllum symingtonianum as well as a biflavonoid morelloflavon e (4) isolated from Garcinia prainiana on MCF-7 breast adenocarcinoma RAW 264.7 macrophages and 3T3-L1 preadipocytes cells, respectively. The cytotoxicity study on MCF-7 cell was conducted by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Meanwhile, the study of anti-inflammatory effects in RAW 264.7 macrophages and adipogenic effects on 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes were conducted through nitrite determination assay and induction of adipocyte differentiation, respectively. In the cytotoxicity study, inophyllum D (1) was the only compounds that exhibited significant cytotoxic effect against MCF-7 cell with IC₅₀ of 84 µg/mL. Further, all by inhibiting the compounds have shown anti-inflammatory effects in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW 264.7 macrophages of nitrite concentration with production. In addition, the compounds also exhibited adipogenic effects on 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes by stimulating lipid formation. Thus, this study may provide significant input in discovery of the potential effects cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory and adipogenic agents.
Adenocarcinoma ; Adipocytes ; Breast ; Calophyllum ; Cell Line* ; Coumarins ; Garcinia ; In Vitro Techniques ; Macrophages ; MCF-7 Cells

Callophylum symingtonianum (Guttiferae), an evergreen broad-leaved tree that usually grows in hill forests, can be found distributed in the Malay Peninsula. The barks, leaves, flowers and seeds is often used medicinally to treat diarrhea and rheumatism. In the present study, we isolated two inophyllum type coumarins, 12-O-ethylinophyllum D (1) and iso-soulattrolide (2) from the stembarks of C. symingtonianum together with their antibacterial activity. The compounds were isolated by chromatographic methods on a silica gel. The structures were established by spectroscopic methods including UV, IR, (1D and 2D) NMR and mass spectrometry as well as by comparison with several literature sources. The antibacterial activity of those compounds was tested using a disc-diffusion assay against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Both compound exhibited mild inhibition against P. aeruginosa with both 111 µg/ml MIC value. Compound 2 also inhibits S. aureus with 25 µg/ml MIC value.
Bacillus cereus ; Calophyllum ; Coumarins ; Diarrhea ; Escherichia coli ; Flowers ; Forests ; Malaysia ; Mass Spectrometry ; Pseudomonas aeruginosa ; Rheumatic Diseases ; Silica Gel ; Staphylococcus aureus ; Trees