Arjunic acid

Am J Chin Med. 2008;36(1):197-207.

Arjunic acid, a strong free radical scavenger from Terminalia arjuna.[Pubmed: 18306462]

This study was designed to investigate the antioxidant and free radical scavenging capacities of Arjunic acid, an aglycone obtained from the fruit of medicine Terminalia Fruit.
METHODS AND RESULTS:
Liver microsomes, mitochondria, and red blood cells (RBCs) were prepared from Wistar rats. The antioxidant capacity was determined by the inhibitory effect on lipid peroxidation, hydrogen peroxide induced RBCs hemolysis, and RBCs autoxidative hemolysis. The free radical scavenging activity was tested by DPPH method and 2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluoresc in diacetate (DCFH(2)-DA) assay. Ascorbic acid was chosen as the positive controls. Results showed that Arjunic acid was a strong antioxidant and a free radical scavenger, more potent than ascorbic acid, in microsomes lipid peroxidation, DPPH, hydrogen peroxide induced RBCs hemolysis, and (DCFH(2)-DA) assay (p < 0.05). However, no significant difference was observed in the RBCs autoxidative hemolysis assay (p > 0.05).

Planta Med. 2008 Mar;74(4):411-3.

Isolation and biological activities of termilignan B and arjunic acid from Terminalia sericea roots.[Pubmed: 18484533]

Bioassay-guided fractionation of ethyl acetate root extracts of Terminalia sericea yielded a new compound, termilignan B, and the known Arjunic acid.
METHODS AND RESULTS:
Both compounds showed activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria with MIC values ranging between 1.9 and 15.6 microg/mL. The lowest MIC value (1.9 microg/mL) was observed with termilignan B against Bacillus subtilis. Neither of the compounds showed significant activity against Mycobacterium aurum A+. In the cyclooxygenase assays, the compounds showed weak inhibitory activity with IC (50) values of 78 microM (COX-1) and 156 microM (COX-2) (termilignan B) and 36 microM (COX-1) and 253 microM (COX-2) (Arjunic acid). No potential mutagenic effects were observed with the two compounds in the Salmonella microsome assay (TA 98).