Advance on the biological properties of polyphenols from Rosemary: an approach to their uses in health.

NATALIA A. ALTAMIRANO; MARÍA V. REPETTO; ADRIÁN A. VOJNOV; EDUARDO G. CAFFERATA; GRACIELA PIWIEN PILIPUK; SILVIA MORENO

Malta

Conferencia; 3rd INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON POLYPHENOLS APPLICATIONS IN NUTRITION AND HEALTH; 2006

International Society of Antioxidant in Nutrition and Health

Rosemary has attracted an increasing attention in the scientific society during the last decade. It was extensively mentioned that rosemary could benefit human health. However, in order to develop new pharmaceutical products it is necessary to validate its traditional use by means of the knowledge of the bioactive compounds, as well as their biological mechanisms of action. Most of the studies of natural antioxidants have been conducted to characterize the total antioxidant activity, which is associated with the total amount of phytochemicals exerting this activity (such as phenolic compounds). However, little information exists about other side biological activities such as antimutagenic, analgesic, and anticancer properties. New compounds are needed since, in general, the traditional chemotherapeutic agents have serious disadvantages. The most important constituent of rosemary is rosmarinic acid, which obtains one of its phenolic rings from phenylalanine via caffeic acid and the other from tyrosine via dihydroxyphenyl-lactic acid and terpenes such as carnosol and carnosic acid. These compounds have strong antioxidant effects. In previous investigations we suggested that rosemary extract might be a good candidate for functional foods as well as for pharmaceutical plant-based products (Moreno, S. et al., Free Radical Research, 2006, 40: 223-231). Here, we study the functional properties of Rosmarinus Officinalis extracts, their fractions and purified compounds to identify bioactive compounds affecting metabolic pathways of mammalian cells. The main objective was to investigate antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of the extracts, their fractions and purified compounds. Both in vivo e in vitro experiments were performed using cellular and molecular biology techniques. The composition of polyphenols from Argentinean Rosmarinus officinalis L extracts was performed by HPLC chromatography using a C18 analytical column. Cell viability, cytotoxic and metabolic activities were tested on epithelial normal cells, human cancer cells and pre-clinic studies on mouse. For this purpose, Trypan blue exclusion technique, in situ fluorescent stain with ethidium bromide and MTT assay were used. Exponentially growing and confluence 3T3- l1 cells were exposed to different times and concentration of rosemary in order to perform doses–response curves. The viability of 3T3-L1 fibroblast increased notably at concentration of 10-20 ug/ml of rosemary extract after 5 days treatment. On the other hand, we also found a considerable decrease on the proliferation of human colorectal cancer cells by the extract in a concentration-dependent manner after 5 days of treatment. Therefore, our data showed that rosemary compounds have inhibitory effect on tumor cell lines but not in normal fibroblast.It is well known that ascorbate and vitamin E in combination with Cu2+ are strong prooxidant producing extensive molecular damage in proteins. Using SDS-PAGE, we confirmed that the Cu2+/H2O2 damage promotes specific degradation of BSA and this is enhanced by ascorbate and trolox (hydrosoluble analogue of vitamin E), in contrast rosemary extract showed a low pro-oxidant potential. All these results demonstrate rosemary’s potential chemotherapeutical use. This work was supported by CONICET and SECyT, Argentina.