In the course of the investigation of plants used in traditional medicine in Niger, Sesamum alatum Thonn. (Pedaliaceae) was selected. This plant is traditionally used against women’s sterility, diarrhea and fever [1]. A 20 µg/mL dichloromethane root extract showed a complete inhibition of multiple myeloma cancer stem cells (MM-CSCs) growth and a 90% inhibition of NF-κB. It also showed an inhibition > 80% at 10 µg/mL of the parasites Leishmania donovani and Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense. Very few studies on Sesamum alatum have been reported so far [2]. A bioassay-guided fractionation of the extract was performed using a reverse phase semi-prep HPLC system and afforded 28 fractions. At 20 µg/mL, sixteen fractions exhibited an inhibition of MM-CSCs growth > 90% and six showed an inhibition of NF-κB > 50%. Three fractions were selected for further purification. The major compounds were isolated and identified as anthrasesamone A and hydroxysesamone. These compounds are reported for the first time in the roots of Sesamum alatum and their biological activity is under investigation.
References :
[1] Eklu-Natey RD, Balet A. Pharmacopée africaine, Dictionnaire et monographie multilingues du potentiel médical des plantes africaines, Editions d’en bas: Genève; 2012: Vol. 2.
[2] Potterat O, Hostettmann K, Stoeckli-Evans H, Saadou M. Helv Chim Acta 1992; 75: 833-841.