Phytochemical analysis and pharmacological study of Ulex gallii Planch. (Fabaceae) and Dianthus hyssopifolius L. (Caryophyllaceae), medicinal plants from Galicia (Spain)
- Autores: Lucía Bada Díaz
- Directores de la Tesis: Elías Quezada González (dir. tes.), Dolores Viña Castelao (dir. tes.)
- Lectura: En la Universidade de Santiago de Compostela ( España ) en 2025
- Idioma: inglés
- Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: Manuel Freire-Garabal Núñez (presid.), Víctor López Ramos (secret.), Marit Inngjerdingen (voc.)
- Programa de doctorado: Programa de Doctorado en Investigación y Desarrollo de Medicamentos por la Universidad de Santiago de Compostela
- Materias:
- Enlaces
- Tesis en acceso abierto en: MINERVA
- Resumen
Medicinal plants are defined as those whose parts or extracts are used for treating pathologies. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds, including primary metabolites like nucleic acids, amino acids, lipids and carbohydrates, which are essential for their vital process, and secondary metabolites, such as phenolic compounds, terpenes or alkaloids, which serve to defend against external factors, among other functions. Many of these compounds have pharmacological activity. Currently, there is renewed interest in obtaining new metabolites from plants. It is estimated that around 25% of pharmaceutical products prescribed worldwide are derived from plants. Traditional medicinal knowledge has been essential in the development of these pharmaceutical products. Recent advances in "omics" technologies, combined with liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry analysis, provide a powerful tool that significantly enhances the detection and identification of new metabolites from medicinal plants. Galicia (Spain) is considered a rich reservoir of medicinal plants with bioactive metabolites. The local inhabitants possess extensive knowledge of the surrounding flora and its potential medicinal uses. Additionally, some ethnopharmacological studies conducted in Galicia have been published. Herein, we conducted a phytochemical and pharmacological study of two plant species that grow in this region and are used by its inhabitants in traditional medicine: Ulex gallii Planch. and Dianthus hyssopifolius L. Several species of the Ulex genus (Fabaceae family), particularly Ulex europaeus L., are common in Galicia and have long been used in traditional medicine. Its chemical composition supports its medicinal uses, and pharmacological studies show that Ulex plants have several applications in cancer treatment. Ulex europaeus L. agglutinin (UEA-1) is an effective marker for endothelial cells in tumors and is also a biomarker for HER2 in breast cancer and neoplastic thyroid cells. Additionally, extracts from Ulex species exhibit cytotoxic effects against lung cancer cells and non-cytotoxic inhibitory effects on reticuloendothelial tumor cell lines. While Ulex gallii Planch. is also used traditionally, its chemical composition and pharmacological properties remain unexplored, but it could be a potential source of anticancer agents based on studies of other Ulex species. The species of the Dianthus genus (Caryophyllaceae family) have long been used in traditional medicine to treat various ailments. For example, "Dianthi herba", a commercial pharmaceutical product derived from Dianthus superbus L. and Dianthus chinensis L., is used in China for conditions like inflammation. Dianthus hyssopifolius L. is used in traditional Galician medicine for reducing fever, treating stomach issues, and rheumatism, suggesting potential anti-inflammatory and/or immunomodulatory properties. However, unlike others Dianthus species, its compounds and pharmacological properties are not well studied, and it could be a valuable source of compounds with promising anti-inflammatory and/or immunomodulatory bioactivity yet to be discovered. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the chemical composition of fractions obtained from Ulex gallii Planch. and Dianthus hyssopifolius L., and determine their anticancer, anti-inflammatory and immunomodulotry properties, respectively. Several dichloromethane and methanol sub-fractions from Ulex gallii Planch showed antiproliferative activity against human stomach (AGS) and lung (A549) tumoral cell lines, as well as antitumoral activity against human neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y) and glioblastoma (U-373MG and U-87MG) cell lines. Targeted and untargeted analysis (using different approaches) of UHPLC-QToF data led to the tentative identification of several flavonoid derivatives in these sub-fractions, which align with the observed pharmacological activity. Additionally, two flavonoids (isoprunetin and genistein) were isolated from these sub-fractions. Different subfractions of a methanolic extract, along isolated compounds including triterpenes (spinasterol-3-O-D-glucopyranoside and stigmast-7-en-3-O-D-glucopyranoside) and flavonoids (kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside and rutin) from Dianthus hyssopifolius L. exhibited anti-inflammatory activity, such as a reduction in nitric oxide production and decreased levels of proteins associated with inflammation in a mouse macrophage cell line (RAW 264.7). Additionally, neutral and acidic carbohydrates, including inulin and pectic polysaccharides isolated from this plant, demonstrated immunomodulatory effects. Overall, the results of this thesis provide the first report on the chemical composition of Ulex galli Planch. and Dianthus hyssopifolius L. and highlight the potential biological value of these species as sources of antitumoral and anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory substances, respectively.
