Colluoglu, Cagdas; Balci, Serdar; Gundogdu, Betul; Coban, Taha Abdulkadir; Bulut, Seval; Suleyman, Halis

This study intends to investigate the effect of thymoquinone against possible ovarian damage and infertility caused by cyclophosphamide in female rats. The rats in the experiment (n=36) were separated into three groups; cyclo-phosphamide administered, thymoquinone plus cyclophosphamide administered and healthy control. At the end of 30 days of administration, 6 rats from each group were killed and the biochemical and histopathological examina-tions were performed on the ovarian tissues. The remaining animals were kept in the same cage with mature male rats for two months. Infertility developed in 83% of cyclophosphamide group animals. Thymoquinone atte-nuated cyclophosphamide-related oxidative and inflammatory ovarian damage and reduced the development of infertility. The outcomes suggest that thymoquinone may be useful in treating infertility due to oxidative and inflammatory ovarian damage.

Karakaya, Songül; Özbek, Hilal; Gözcü, Sefa; Güvenalp, Zühal; Yuca, Hafize; Duman, Hayri; Kazaz, Cavit; Kiliç, Ceyda Sibel

Eleven coumarins named osthole (1), imperatorin (2), bergapten (3), prantschimgin (4), grandivitinol (5), suberosin (6), xanthotoxin (7), felamidin (8), marmesin (9), umbelliferone (10), ulopterol (11), and a sterol mixture consisted of stigmasterol (12), β-sitosterol (13) were isolated from the roots of Ferulago blancheana, F. pachyloba and F. trachycarpa through in vitro bioassay-guided fractionation processes. The extracts and bioactive compounds were evaluated for their α-amylase and α-glucosidase activities. Among the tested compounds, felamidin and suberosin showed significant α-glucosidase inhibitory activity with IC50 values of 0.4 and 0.9 mg/mL, respectively, when compared to the reference standard acarbose (IC50 = 4.9 mg/mL). Grandivitinol (IC50 = 20.0 mg/mL) had the lowest inhibitory effect. On the other hand, none of the tested extracts were found to be active on α-amylase inhibition. This is the first report on isolation, characterization of the bioactive compounds and evaluation the α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities of these species.