Celastraceae family species

As a general rule, the biosynthesis of skeletons belonging to the Celastraceae family is extremely specific, the triterpene-quinones and P-dihydro-agarofiiran type skeleton sesquiterpenes from these species having a notably high degree of oxidation. The presence of tritetpene-quinones indicates the biosynthetic specificity of the Celastraceae family since these compounds are synthesized in the roots and are virtually exclusive to the family. 

The Celastraceae family consists of about 55 genera and 850 species. According to Takhtajan [4], Hippocrateaceae would be subordinate to the Celastraceae. Systematically the Celastraceae family is arranged hierarchically as follows ... 

The Celastraceae family is probably related phylogenetically with the Aquifoliaceae the presence of glandular discs around the ovary and the bright coloured aril in the Celastraceae are the principal differences between the two families. The Celastraceae family is pantropically distributed with radiation towards temperate or temperate-cold climates. In other words, the Celastraceae are principally concentrated in the tropical and subtropical regions and to a lesser extent in the temperate zones of the world (Figure la). The family is better represented in Central America and the West Indies than m South America except for the Maytenus genus [5] (15 species in Peru and 15 in Venezuela). 

Plants of the Celastraceae family had been used in folk medicine of various countries [2]. From the species of this family, sesquiterpenes,... 

The Celastraceae family, named commonly as the bittersweet family, consists of 50-55 genera with 800-850 species with pantropical distribution. Nevertheless, a fair number of species are found in temperate regions. The largest genera are Maytenus (225 species), Euonymus (200 species), Cassine (40 species), and Celastrus (30 species) [12, 13]. 

Dimers are a class of compounds isolated from only seven species of Celastraceae family [8,88]. These triterpene dimers were found to be composed of one quinoid type and one aromatic type of triterpene derived from pristimerin, tingenone and / or their congeners joined together by two ether linkages formed between the two A rings or between the A and B rings. From the methylene chloride soluble portion of a methanolic extract of Maytenus chuchuhuasca, four dimeric compounds were isolated by Shirota et al. [88]. 

Trimeric compounds have only been isolated from one species of the Celastraceae family, M. scutioides, by Gonzalez et al. [8]. The two compounds were based on pristimerin units, one in the quinoid form and two in the aromatic form. 

In the course of these research programmes, many characteristic bioactive compounds have been reported. Polyester sesquiterpenes and pyridine-sesquiterpene alkaloids with insect antifeedant or insecticidal properties have been isolated from some species and recently sesquiterpene pyridine alkaloids with immunosuppressive or antitumoral activities have also been described. Diterpene triepoxides with potent antileukemic and immunosupressive activities and triterpenoid quinonemethides, named as celastroloids , with antibiotic and cytostatic activities, have been isolated from species of the Celastraceae family. 

Many researchers in different parts of the world are actively involved in recording the available information on traditional medicine. To contribute to this vast task we present in this review a compilation of the ethnomedical uses of the species of the Celastraceae family, recorded from the NAPRALERT data base up to September 1997. 

The next pages are an update on the state of the active constituents of species of the Celastraceae family detailing, the results of biological activities carried out since the last publication on the subject [6, 118]. 

The family Celastraceae consists of about 50 genera and 800 species of trees, shrubs, or climbers known to produce a series of phenethylamine alkaloids that might hold some potentials as sources of dopaminergic agents. About 30 plant species of Celastraceae are medicinal in the Asia-Pacific region. 

Although pyrrolizidine alkaloids have been isolated from a number of plant families this is the first recorded occurrence of a member of this group in any species of the family Celastraceae. A second point worthy of note is the cooccurrence in B. archboldiana of calycanthine (15), which has previously only been obtained from the family Calycanthaceae. 

Hippocrateaceae consist of only two genera, Salacia (200 species) and Hippocratea (100 species) with species widely distributed in tropical regions [13]. For some taxonomist, Hippocrateaceae should be included into Celastraceae whilst others maintain that it should be considered a different family. According to Robson, Hippocrateaceae are a not natural... 

The family Celastraceae contains several species with claims that they are useful in medicine and folk agriculture, especially in Asia and Latin America but also in other continents. 

In general, very little has been written about diterpenes from Celastraceae as these structures are not often found. However, the novelty of their structures and their biological activities have stimulated several groups to research on the diterpenoid components from species of this family. 

Abietatriene type diterpenes have been the general rule in the Celastraceae. Sugiol (63), maytenone (64), dispermol (65), dispermone (66) and maytenoquinone (67), among others, have been isolated from species of this family, Fig. (21). On the other hand, the chemical study of the minor constituents of Rzedowskia tolantonguensis [168] yielded a series of new diterpenes (68-69) and norditerpenes (70-74) with an isopimarane skeleton. Fig. (22), described for the first time in the Celastraceae. 

The pioneering work of Bhatnagar and Divekar encouraged subsequent workers to search for bioactive compounds in the Celastraceae species and since the discovery of celastrol (172) and pristimerin (173), a variety of celastroloids have been encountered in plants of this family. 

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