Planta Med 2013; 79 - PI41
DOI: 10.1055/s-0033-1352131

Isolation of some chemical constituents from licorice and their evaluation as anticancer and antiviral agents

MM Hamed 1, SM El-Amin 1, LA Refahy 1, AM Saad 1, A Mansour 2, HM Abu taleb 3, M El Ansary 4
  • 1Theodor Bilharz Research Institute, Medicinal chemistry department, Giza, Egypt
  • 2Theodor Bilharz Research Institute, Imunology department, Giza, Egypt
  • 3Theodor Bilharz Research Institute, environmental research department, Giza, Egypt
  • 4Theodor Bilharz Research Institute, gastroenterology and hepatology department, Giza, Egypt

Ten compounds were isolated from the methanol extract of Glycyrrhiza glabra L., they were identified as 2-O-β-D-Xylopyranoside,(3- methoxy phenyl) 4'-methoxy, 3',5' dihydroxybenzofuran [1], ergosta-7,22-dien-3β,5α,6β,9α-tetraol [2], 5,2',4'-trihydroxy, 8,3'-dimethoxy 4',5' hydroxyisopropyldihydrofuran flavanol [3], isolicoflavanol [4], 7-O-β-D-xylopyranosyl (1→4) β-D-glucopyranosyl 6-O-isobutyl isoflavone [5], licorice saponin L 3 [6], Lipinifolin [7], licochalcone B [8] isoliquirtin [9] and isoliquiritigenin [10]. Eight compounds were evaluated for anticancer and antiviral activities, they were tested on three cytokines of the human ascites fluid, TNF-alpha, Interferons-gamma and NO. All tested compounds showed significant curative effect compared to control. Compound [8] showed significant decrease compared with control (p < 0.01) in both HCV and malignant HCV cases in the three cytokines of the human ascites fluid after 24 and 48 hours followed by compound [3].