Picroside IV

Indian J Exp Biol. 2010 Mar;48(3):323-8.

Online HPLC-DPPH method for antioxidant activity of Picrorhiza kurroa Royle ex Benth. and characterization of kutkoside by ultra-performance LC-electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry.[Pubmed: 21046989]

Picrorhiza kurroa Royle ex Benth., is widely used in the Indian systems of medicine for the treatment of various liver ailments.
METHODS AND RESULTS:
Since, the role of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of liver injury has become generally recognized, in present study the free radical scavenging effect of P. kurroa was assessed by on-line HPLC-DPPH and colorimetric DPPH methods. The comparative study on antioxidant activity of P. kurroa extracts by both methods revealed that colorimetric method showed very less free radical scavenging effect while HPLC-DPPH method showed high activity. Further, the kutkoside, an important ingredient of a potent hepatoprotective formulation "kutkin/picroliv" was investigated for its chemical composition by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection/electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-DAD/ESI-QTOF-MS).
CONCLUSIONS:
Kutkoside was considered to be a single compound and reported as picroside-II or kutkoside, however, present investigation illustrated that kutkoside is a mixture of iridoid glycosides namely, picroside II, Picroside IV and 6-ferulloylcatalpol.

Z Naturforsch C. 2007 Nov-Dec;62(11-12):813-20.

Antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects of saponin and iridoid glycosides from Verbascum pterocalycinum var. mutense Hub.-Mor.[Pubmed: 18274283]

The anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive properties of four major compounds from the flowers of Verbascum pterocalycinum var. mutense were investigated. Saponin glycosides called ilwensisaponin A and C and iridoid glycosides known as ajugol and Picroside IV were isolated from the methanolic extract.
METHODS AND RESULTS:
A dose-related anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive response were obtained in this study at doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg. The results of the evaluation of the anti-inflammatory activity induced by carrageenan and PGE1 showed that this species possesses active constituents that could diminish the cyclooxygenase activitiy. No effects were observed in the 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-induced ear edema model.
CONCLUSIONS:
Our results support the anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of Verbascum pterocalycinum var. mutense. Ilwensisaponins A and C could explain in part the anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities of this species. Although antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities of ajugol and Picroside IV were found insignificant in the statistical analysis, ilwensisaponin A and C showed notable activity without inducing any apparent acute toxicity as well as gastric damage.