Home / Science / Research Еxcellence 2008-2013 / Morphological and Functional State and Establishment of an Information System for In Vitro Cultivation of the Medicinal Plant Lamium Album L.

   

Name of Excellence: Morphological and Functional State and Establishment of an Information System for In Vitro Cultivation of the Medicinal Plant Lamium Album L.

Author: Prof. Veneta Kapchina-Toteva PhD, Department of Plant Physiology

Research domain: Plant Biotechnology

V.Kapchina-Toteva
 

Prof. Veneta Kapchina-Toteva, PhD graduated from the Faculty of Agronomy of the Agricultural Academy (1976).

Dissertation for the “Doctor” degree (1983); Associate Professor (2002); Professor of Plant Physiology – Plant Cell and Tissue Culture (2011) at the Faculty of Biology, Department of Plant Physiology.

Specializations at the Institute of Bulbous Plants, at the University of Wageningen and Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and at the University in Kosice, Slovakia.

Research team: 23 scientists (teachers, predoctoral fellows, students, and specialists) from the Faculty of Biology and Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy of Sofia University.

Prof. Veneta Kapchina-Toteva, PhD

Lamium album L. important pharmacological properties have been observed for its in vivo extracts. The aim is to perform in vitro cultivation under controlled conditions and high metabolic activity of the cells and to obtain a standardized set of secondary metabolites with high antiviral, antibacterial, and antitumor activity. A protocol for in vitro propagation and ex vitro adaptation of the plants has been established which could be modifi ed and also applied to other species with pharmaceutical value. The methanol extract displayed a strong effect on the replication of Herpes Simplex Virus type 1 and 2 in a cell culture, and inactivated the virus up to 99.99% (Fig. 1).

fig1-Toteva

Fig. 1. Effect on the extracellular form of HSV-1

 

In vivo and in vitro extracts from Lamium album L. exhibited a remarkable activity against the replication of Herpes Simplex Virus type 1 and type 2 in cell culture. Methanol extract from in vivo cultivated plants displayed a very strong effect on the extracellular form of the virus and inactivated the virus up to 99.99% after 15 minutes of contact.

Extracts from Lamium album L. exhibited a broad spectrum of antibacterial activity. The chloroform extract from in vivo fl ower had the highest activity against E. faecalis NBIMCC 3915 (Fig. 2), S. aureus NBIMCC 3703, P. hauseri NBIMCC 1339, and P. aeruginosa NBIMCC 3700.

fig2-Toteva

Fig.2. Minimal inhibitory concentration of chloroform extracts from in vivo L. album L. fl ower (Soxhlet extraction) against Enterococcus faecalis NBIMCC 3915 (22 mm, 13 mm, 11 mm, 23 mm diameter of inhibition zone and MIC 0.313 mg/ml, respectively)

 

The methanol and chloroform extracts from in vitro cultivated plants exhibited a cytotoxic effect on cell lines of HeLa (carcinoma of the uterus’s cervix) and A549 (human lung adenocarcinoma). The most distinct differences were observed in the morphological analysis and adhesive ability, where the control cells were not changed or slightly affected compared to the cancer cell lines (Fig. 3).

fig3-Toteva

Fig.3. Modifi cations in the morphology of A549 cells (human lung adenocarcinoma) 48 h. after treatment with chloroform extract from in vivo and in vitro cultivated Lamium album L. plants. The extracts from in vivo and in vitro grown Lamium album L. plants affect in a varying degree the two types of cells. The most pronounced differences were observed in the morphological analysis and the adhesive ability, where the non-cancer cells are not changed or slightly affected compared to the cancer cell lines

 

The main conclusion is that the in vitro synthesized set of secondary metabolites has high biological activity and can be a valuable source of substances with potential use as food additives.

The research has been carried out in partnership with the National park Pirin, Bansko,and Agrobioinstitute, Sofia.

These studies were supported by the Ministry of Education and Science (DTK-02-29/2009).