Comparative toxicity and melanin stimulating activity of Heracleum maximum and Psoralea corylifolia

CHED 1288

Preeti Dhar1, Maureen Morrow2, and Igor Gembitsky, dharp@newpaltz.edu1. (1) Department of Chemistry, State University of New York, New Paltz, 75 South Manheim Boulevard, CSB 101, New Paltz, NY 12561, (2) Department of Biology, SUNY New Paltz, 1 Hawk Drive, New Paltz, 12561
Psoralea corylifolia, a plant native to India, has been used in traditional medicine to treat vitilago. Furanocoumarins, present in this plant, are known to induce melanogenesis. Furanocoumarins are also documented to occur in high concentrations in a local North American plant, Heracleum maximum. However this plant has not been used traditionally to treat vitilago. The objective of this research is to elucidate the reason for this difference by quantifying the toxic and phototoxic properties of Psoralea corylifolia and Heracleum maximum using the Artemia salina bioassay. The melanogenetic properties of these plant extracts have been compared to each other using the murine B16 melanoma cell line. P. corylifolia extracts were found to be less potent than H. maximum extracts in stimulating melanogenesis, however, Artemia salina and B16 cell proliferation assays showed that H. Maximum extracts were much more toxic. These findings suggest that H. maximum has not been used in traditional folklore medicine for skin ailments due to its high levels of toxicity.
 

Undergraduate Research Poster Session: Medicinal Chemistry
2:00 PM-4:00 PM, Monday, April 7, 2008 Morial Convention Center -- Hall A, Poster

Division of Chemical Education

The 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 6-10, 2008