Aromatic gum from Boswellia carteri (olibanum oleogum) has long been used in Egyptian traditional medicine. Cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) enzyme inhibitory assay guided purification of the extracts of this resin resulted in five bioactive compounds, 3α-O-acetyl-8,24-dien-tirucallic acid (1), verticilla-4(20),7,11-triene (2), cembrene A (3), incensole acetate (4), and incensole (5). The pure isolates were investigated for their inhibitory effects on COX-1 and −2 enzymes and human tumor cell lines Hep-G2, MCF-7 and RAW 264.7. Compounds 1–5 inhibited COX-2 enzyme by 39.0, 32.7, 60.0, 46.3, and 49.8%, respectively. Furthermore, compound 2 showed an inhibitory concentration of 50% (IC50) at 9 μg/mL against Hep-G2 tumor cell line. This is the first report of COX-1 and -2 enzyme and tumor cell proliferation inhibitory effects of compounds 1 and 2.
MikhaeilB.R., MaatooqG.T., BadriaF.A., AmerM.M.A. (2003) Chemistry and immunomodulatory activity of frankincense oil. Zeitschrift für Naturforschung, 58, 230–238; (b) Banno N, Akihisa T, Yasukawa K, Tokuda H, Tabata K, Nakamura Y, Nishimura R, Kimura Y, Suzuki T. (2006) Anti-inflammatory activities of the triterpene acids from the resin of Boswellia carteri. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 107, 249–253; (c) Li F-S, Yan D-L, Liu R-R, Xu K-P, Tan G-S. (2010) Chemical constituents of Boswellia carterii (Frankincense). Chinese Journal of Natural Medicines, 8, 25–27; (d) Basar S, Koch A, Konig WA. (2001) A verticillane-type diterpene from Boswellia carterii essential oil. Flavour and Fragrance Journal, 16, 315–318; (e) Hamm S, Bleton J, Connan J, Tchapla A. (2005) A chemical investigation by headspace SPME and GC–MS of volatile and semi-volatile terpenes in various olibanum samples. Phytochemistry, 66, 1499–1514; (f) Moussaieffa A, Mechoulamb R. (2009) Boswellia resin: from religious ceremonies to medical uses; a review of in-vitro, in-vivo and clinical trials. Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, 61, 1281–1293.
2.
FrancisJ.A., RajaS.N., NairM.G. (2004) Bioactive terpenoids and guggulusteroids from Commiphora mukul gum resin of potential anti-inflammatory interest. Chemistry & Biodiversity, 1, 1842–1853; (b) Moussaieff A, Shohami E, Kashman Y, Fride E, Schmitz ML, Renner F, Fiebich BL, Munoz E, Ben-Neriah Y, Mechoulam R. (2007) Incensole acetate, a novel anti-inflammatory compound isolated from Boswellia resin, inhibits nuclear factor kappa B activation. Molecular Pharmacology, 72, 1657–1664; (c) Kim KH, Moon E, Kim SY, Choi SU, Lee KR. (2012) Lignan constituents of Tilia amurensis and their biological evaluation on antitumor and anti-inflammatory activities. Food and Chemical Toxicology, 50, 3680–3686; (d) Akihisa T, Tabata K, Banno N, Tokuda H, Nishihara R, Nakamura Y, Kimura Y, Yasukawa K, Suzuki K. (2006) Cancer chemopreventive effects and cytotoxic activities of the triterpene acids from the resin of Boswellia carteri. Biological & Pharmaceutical Bulletin, 29, 1976–1979; (e) Pereg D, Lishner M. (2005) Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for the prevention and treatment of cancer. Journal of Internal Medicine, 258, 115–123; (f) Harris RE, Beebe-Donk J, Alshafie GA. (2012) Reduction in cancer risk by selective and nonselective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors. Journal of Experimental Pharmacology, 4, 91–96.
3.
JayaprakasamB., VanisreeM., ZhangY., DewittD.L., NairM.G. (2006) Impact of alkyl esters of caffeic and ferulic acids on tumor cell proliferation, cyclooxygenase enzyme and lipid peroxidation. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 54, 5375–5381.
4.
ZhangY., MillsG.L., NairM.G. (2003) Cyclooxygenase inhibitory and antioxidant compounds from the fruiting body of an edible mushroom, Agrocybe aegerita. Phytomedicine, 10, 386–390; (b) Ganzera M, Khan IA. (2001) A reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography method for the analysis of boswellic acids in Boswellia serrata. Planta Medica, 67, 778–780.
5.
PaulM., BrüningG., WeihratherJ., JauchJ. (2011) Qualitative and quantitative analysis of 17 different types of tetra- and pentacyclic triterpenic acids in Boswellia papyrifera by a semi-automatic homomodal 2D HPLC method. Chromatographia, 74, 29–40.
6.
ObermannH. (1977) Die chemischen und geruchlichen Unterschiede von Weihrauchharzen. Dragoco Report, 24, 260–265.
