Bioactivity of natural products from Nepeta cataria L.

CIANCHINO VA; ALVAREZ ME; TONN CE; PUNGITORE CR ; FAVIER LS

Mendoza

Congreso; SBC2013; 2013

Nepeta cataria L. (Lamiaceae), found in the Eastern Mediterranean, Southern Asia and China, is commonly known as Catnip or Catmint because of its irresistible action on cats. Due to lemony mint flavor it is used in the herbal teas as well as in cooking. Medicinally, the plant is used in gastrointestinal and respiratory hyperactive disorders such as colic, diarrhea, cough, asthma and bronchosis. The DNA polymerases are enzymes that play crucial roles in DNA metabolism such as replication, transcription, recombination and segregation of chromosomes during mitosis. For this reason, it is well known that these enzymes are important molecular targets for the development of chemical agents that are involved in cancer related therapies. Several inhibitors of these enzymes have been tested in clinical trials including dideoxynucleotides, phospholipids, fatty acids, flavonoids, iridoids, triterpenes, camptothecinas, anthracyclines and ellipcinas. However, the search for new and more effective inhibitors is still needed. The aim of this work was isolate iridoids compounds from Nepetacataria to study their bioactivity against the enzyme Taq DNA polymerase. The compounds nepetalactone, ursolic acid, maslinic acid and beta-amyrin were isolated from the methanol extract and their bioactivity will be evaluated against enzymes related to DNA.