ISOLATION OF TURKESTERONE FROM THE EPIGEAL PART OF Ajuga turkestanica AND ITS ANABOLIC ACTIVITY
ISOLATION OF TURKESTERONE FROM THE EPIGEAL PART
OF Ajuga turkestanica AND ITS ANABOLIC ACTIVITY
A. U. Mamatkhanov, M. R. Yakubova, and V. N. Syrov UDC 615.322
The technological isolation of turkesterone from the epigeal part of Ajuga turkestanica (Rgl.) Brig. is described, a method is proposed for the quantitative determination of turkesterone, and the results of an investigation of its biological activity are given.
The perennial plant Ajuga turkestanica (Rgl.) Brig. growing in Uzbekistan and Tadzhikistan is a rich source of biologically active substances [1]. B. Z. Usmanov et al. [2] have made a detailed study of the ecdysteroids of A. turkestanica roots. Together with known ecdysteroids, they isolated a new compound of this class -- turkesterone [3-5] (with a yield of 0.052% on the weight of the raw material), possessing a pronounced capacity for activating the biosynthesis of protein in the animal organism [6]. We have investigated the isolation of turkesterone from the epigeal part of A. turkestanica gathered in the Surkhandar"inskaya Oblast, Uzbekistan, and have determined its biological activity. To select the best reagent we studied the extraction of the raw material with alcohol in various concentrations and with methanol:
The best results were obtained when turkesterone was extracted from the raw material with 80% ethanol and with methanol.
We studied the extraction of turkesterone in time (Fig. 1). Analysis was conducted by a chromatospectrophotometric method [7] in a Soxhlet apparatus [sic], and the chromatographic separation of turkesterone from accompanying substances on plates with a fixed layer of silica gel of type L5/40/~ in the solvent system chloroform-methanol-acetone (6:2:1), with
determination of the optical densities of the eluates at X 241 nm. Four hours was necessary to achieve the equilibrium concentration at first contact of the phases, while phase equilibrium was reached at second contact after 3 h and at the third and fourth contacts after 2 h (see Fig. 1). The extraction curves were typical isotherms tending to equilibrium. With a decrease in the amount of extractive substances in the raw material the relative rate of extraction rose.
In addition to turkesterone, the extract contained other ecdysteroids, and also iridoids, carbohydrates, tanning substances, and other impurities. Accompanying substances of hydrophobic nature were eliminated by treatment with chloroform. When an aqueous solution was extracted with chloroform five times, 3.4% (of the weight of the raw material) of
accompanying substances of hydrophobic nature was eliminated.
Institute of the Chemistry of Plant Substances, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbeldstan, Tashkent, fax (3712) 40 64 75. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 2, pp. 188-193.
OF Ajuga turkestanica AND ITS ANABOLIC ACTIVITY
A. U. Mamatkhanov, M. R. Yakubova, and V. N. Syrov UDC 615.322
The technological isolation of turkesterone from the epigeal part of Ajuga turkestanica (Rgl.) Brig. is described, a method is proposed for the quantitative determination of turkesterone, and the results of an investigation of its biological activity are given.
The perennial plant Ajuga turkestanica (Rgl.) Brig. growing in Uzbekistan and Tadzhikistan is a rich source of biologically active substances [1]. B. Z. Usmanov et al. [2] have made a detailed study of the ecdysteroids of A. turkestanica roots. Together with known ecdysteroids, they isolated a new compound of this class -- turkesterone [3-5] (with a yield of 0.052% on the weight of the raw material), possessing a pronounced capacity for activating the biosynthesis of protein in the animal organism [6]. We have investigated the isolation of turkesterone from the epigeal part of A. turkestanica gathered in the Surkhandar"inskaya Oblast, Uzbekistan, and have determined its biological activity. To select the best reagent we studied the extraction of the raw material with alcohol in various concentrations and with methanol:
The best results were obtained when turkesterone was extracted from the raw material with 80% ethanol and with methanol.
We studied the extraction of turkesterone in time (Fig. 1). Analysis was conducted by a chromatospectrophotometric method [7] in a Soxhlet apparatus [sic], and the chromatographic separation of turkesterone from accompanying substances on plates with a fixed layer of silica gel of type L5/40/~ in the solvent system chloroform-methanol-acetone (6:2:1), with
determination of the optical densities of the eluates at X 241 nm. Four hours was necessary to achieve the equilibrium concentration at first contact of the phases, while phase equilibrium was reached at second contact after 3 h and at the third and fourth contacts after 2 h (see Fig. 1). The extraction curves were typical isotherms tending to equilibrium. With a decrease in the amount of extractive substances in the raw material the relative rate of extraction rose.
In addition to turkesterone, the extract contained other ecdysteroids, and also iridoids, carbohydrates, tanning substances, and other impurities. Accompanying substances of hydrophobic nature were eliminated by treatment with chloroform. When an aqueous solution was extracted with chloroform five times, 3.4% (of the weight of the raw material) of
accompanying substances of hydrophobic nature was eliminated.
Institute of the Chemistry of Plant Substances, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbeldstan, Tashkent, fax (3712) 40 64 75. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 2, pp. 188-193.
