Coumarin as an additive or as a constituent of tonka beans or tonka extracts is banned from food in the United States due to its potentially adverse side effects. However, coumarin in food from other natural ingredients is not regulated. "True Cinnamon" refers to the dried inner bark of Cinnamomum verum. Other cinnamon species, C. cassia, C. loureiroi, and C. burmannii, commonly known as cassia...

Patients with coumarin induced skin necrosis presents with painful purpura and erythematous bluish swelling of the skin complicated by blister formation, hemorrhage and immanent gangrene. Coumarin induced hemorrhagic skin necrosis occurs within one week after initiation of coumarin treatment at time of prolonged INR caused by an imbalance within the vitamin K dependent anticoagulant and procoag...

The effects of coumarin on cell viability, cell cycle arrest and induction of apoptosis were investigated in human cervical cancer HeLa cells. Coumarin was cytotoxic with an IC50 of 54.2 microM, induced morphological changes, and caused G0/G1 arrest and apoptosis. The decreasing number of viable cells appeared to be due to induction of cell cycle arrest and apoptotic cell death, since coumarin ...

The synthesis and antitumour and antibacterial activity of coumarin and chromone phosphorohydrazones have been reported. This study describes influence of phosphorohydrazones derivatives of coumarin and chromone on the polymerization and viscosity of fibrin. The fibrin polymerization assay was performed by the Shen and Lorand method and the clot viscosity was measured on the basis of Shen and L...

Esterified drimane-type sesquiterpene lactones such as astellolides display various biological activities and are widely produced by plants and fungi. Given their low homology to known sesquiterpene cyclases, the genes responsible for their biosynthesis have not been uncovered yet. Here, we identified the astellolide gene cluster from Aspergillus oryzae and discovered a novel sesquiterpene bios...

Investigation of the aerial parts of the Egyptian medicinal plant Ammi majus L. led to isolation of new coumarin, 6-hydroxy-7-methoxy-4 methyl coumarin (2) and 6-hydroxy-7-methoxy coumarin (3); this is the first time they have been isolated from this plant. The structures of the compounds (2 &3) were elucidated by spectroscopic data interpretation and showed anti-inflammatory and anti-viral act...

Sesquiterpenoids, and specifically sesquiterpene lactones from Asteraceae, may play a highly significant role in human health, both as part of a balanced diet and as pharmaceutical agents, due to their potential for the treatment of cardiovascular disease and cancer. This review highlights the role of sesquiterpene lactones endogenously in the plants that produce them, and explores mechanisms b...

Chicory (Cichorium intybus) sesquiterpene lactones were recently shown to be derived from a common sesquiterpene intermediate, (+)-germacrene A. Germacrene A is of interest because of its key role in sesquiterpene lactone biosynthesis and because it is an enzyme-bound intermediate in the biosynthesis of a number of phytoalexins. Using polymerase chain reaction with degenerate primers, we have i...

For decades coumarins have been the most commonly prescribed drugs for therapy and prophylaxis of thromboembolic conditions. Despite the limitation of their narrow therapeutic dosage window, the broad variation of intra- and inter-individual drug requirement, and the relatively high incidence of bleeding complications, prescriptions for coumarins are increasing due to the aging populations in i...

Coumarin, the parent compound of warfarin, has been observed to stimulate macrophages, increase phagocytosis, and induce changes in lymphocyte-mitogen responsiveness in cancer patients. Coumarin has been reported to have antitumor activity in human melanomas and renal cancer when used in conjunction with the H-2 antagonist, cimetidine. We have observed that coumarin has antiprostatic activity i...