BACKGROUND Natural products are used in the production of therapeutic drugs due to their wide diversity and excellent adaptability to biological structures. Sesquiterpene lactones are the active constituents of several plants from the Asteraceae family. AIM To assess the in vitro effect of a sesquiterpene lactone (millerenolide). MATERIAL AND METHODS The drug effect was assessed measuring t...

BACKGROUND The epidemiology of contact dermatitis can be analyzed using clinical data from skin allergy units. OBJECTIVES The aims of this study were to define the profile of patients attending a skin allergy unit and to determine the prevalence of the most common sensitizations in this population. MATERIAL AND METHODS Throughout 2008, a retrospective observational study was carried out in ...

The daisy-like flowers of pyrethrum (Tanacetum cinerariifolium) are used to extract pyrethrins, a botanical insecticide with a long history of safe and effective use. Pyrethrum flowers also contain other potential defense compounds, particularly sesquiterpene lactones (STLs), which represent problematic allergenic residues in the extracts that are removed by the pyrethrum industry. The STLs are...

Certain species of Geigeria contain sesquiterpene lactones which cause vomiting disease in sheep. Dihydrogriesenin (DHG), a sesquiterpene lactone from G. asperta, contains an alpha-methylene function which can spontaneously react with thiol groups on proteins to form a covalent adduct. A specific antiserum against a DHG-protein adduct can be used to determine the fate of DHG in poisoned animals...

Chicory (Cichorium intybus) is known to contain guaianolides, eudesmanolides, and germacranolides. These sesquiterpene lactones are postulated to originate from a common germacranolide, namely (+)-costunolide. Whereas a pathway for the formation of germacra-1(10),4,11(13)-trien-12-oic acid from farnesyl diphosphate had previously been established, we now report the isolation of an enzyme activi...

Sesquiterpene lactones are a large group of natural compounds, found primarily in plants of Asteraceae family, with over 5000 structures reported to date. Within this family, genus Artemisia is very well represented, having approximately 500 species characterized by the presence of eudesmanolides and guaianolides, especially highly oxygenated ones, and rarely of germacranolides. Sesquiterpene l...