Phytochemistry and pharmacology of Ferula persica Boiss.: A review

Document Type : Review Article

Authors

Biotechnology Research Center, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

Abstract

Ferula persica, is the well-known species of the genus Ferula in Iran and has two varieties: persica and latisecta. They have both been extensively used in traditional medicine for a wide range of ailments. A great number of chemical compounds including sesquiterpene coumarins and polysulfides have been isolated from this plant. Fresh plant materials, crude extracts and isolated components of F. persica have shown a wide spectrum of pharmacological properties including anti-pigmentation in Serratia marcescens, cytotoxic, antibacterial, anti-fungal, anti-leishmanial, cancer chemopreventive, reversal of multi-drug resistance, anti-inflammatory and lipoxygenase inhibitory activity. The present review summarizes the data available regarding the chemical constituents and biological activities of F. persica.

Keywords

References

1.Mahran G, El Alfy T, Ansari S. A phytochemical study of volatile oil of Afghanian Asafoetida. Bull Fac Pharm Cairo Univ 1973; 12:101-107.
2.Mozaffarian V. A dictionary of Iranian plant names: Latin, English, Persian: Farhang Mo'aser; 1996.
3.Sahebkar A, Iranshahi M. Biological activities of essential oils from the genus Ferula (Apiaceae). Asian Biomed 2010; 4:835-847.
4.Sahebkar A, Iranshahi M. Volatile constituents of the genus Ferula (Apiaceae): A review. J Essent Oil Bear Pl 2011; 14:504-531.
5.El-Razek MHA, Ohta S, Hirata T. Terpenoid coumarins of the genus Ferula. Heterocycles 2003; 60:689-716.
6.El-Razek MHA, Ohta S, Ahmed AA, Hirata T. Sesquiterpene coumarins from the roots of Ferula assa-foetida. Phytochemistry 2001;58:1289-1295.
7.Iranshahi M. A review of volatile sulfur-containing compounds from terrestrial plants: Biosynthesis, distribution and analytical methods. J Essent Oil Res 2012; 24:393-434.
8.Iranshahi M, Amin GR, Amini M, Shafiee A. Sulfur containing derivatives from Ferula persica var. latisecta. Phytochemistry 2003; 63:965-966.
9.Iranshahi M, Noroozi S, Behravan J, Karimi G, Schneider B. Persicasulphide C, a new sulphur-containing derivative from Ferula persica. Nat Prod Res 2009; 23:1584-1588.
10.Iranshahi M, Yazdi MC, Hassanzadeh-Khayyat M, Sahebkar A. Sulfur containing compounds in the volatile oil of Ferula latisecta Rech. f. & Aell. Leaves. J Essent Oil-Bearing Pl 2009; 12:64-648.
11.Iranshahi M, Mojarab M, Sadeghian H, Hanafi-Bojd MY, Schneider B. Polar secondary metabolites of Ferula persica roots. Phytochemistry 2008; 69:473-478.
12.Iranshahi M, Askari M, Sahebkar A, Adjipavlou-Litina D. Evaluation of antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and lipoxygenase inhibitory activities of the prenylated coumarin umbelliprenin. Daru 2009; 17:99-103.
13.Shahverdi A, Saadat F, Khorramizadeh M, Iranshahi M, Khoshayand M. Two matrix metalloproteinases inhibitors from Ferula persica var. persica. Phytomedicine 2006; 13:712-717.
14.Barthomeuf C, Lim S, Iranshahi M, Chollet P. Umbelliprenin from Ferula szowitsiana inhibits the growth of human M4Beu metastatic pigmented malignant melanoma cells through cell-cycle arrest in G1 and induction of caspase-dependent apoptosis. Phytomedicine 2008; 15:103-111.
15.Iranshahi M, Shahverdi AR, Mirjani R, Amin G, Shafiee A. Umbelliprenin from Ferula persica roots inhibits the red pigment production in Serratia marcescens. Z Naturforsch C 2004; 59:506-508.
16.Kasaian J, Mosaffa F, Behravan J, Masullo M, Piacente S, Ghandadi M, et al. Reversal of P-glycoprotein-mediated multidrug resistance in MCF-7/Adr cancer cells by sesquiterpene coumarins. Fitoterapia 2015; 103:149-154.
17.Hanafi-Bojd MY, Iranshahi M, Mosaffa F, Tehrani SO, Kalalinia F, Behravan J. Farnesiferol A from Ferula persica and galbanic acid from Ferula szowitsiana inhibit P-glycoprotein-mediated rhodamine efflux in breast cancer cell lines. Planta Med 2011; 77:1590-1593.
18.Iranshahi M, Amin G, Shafiee A. A new coumarin from Ferula persica. Pharm Biol 2004;42:440-442.
19.Iranshahi M, Amin G-R, Jalalizadeh H, Shafiee A. New germacrane derivative from Ferula persica. Pharm Biol 2003; 41:431-433.
20.Razavi BM, Arasteh E, Imenshahidi M, Iranshahi M. Antihypertensive effect of auraptene, a monoterpene coumarin from the genus Citrus, upon chronic administration. Iran J Basic Med Sci 2015; 18:153-158.
21.Soltani F, Mosaffa F, Iranshahi M, Karimi G, Malekaneh M, Haghighi F, Behravan J. Auraptene from Ferula szowitsiana protects human peripheral lymphocytes against oxidative stress. Phythoter Res 2010; 24:85-89.
22.Imenshahidi M, Eghbal M, Sahebkar A, Iranshahi M. Hypotensive activity of auraptene, a monoterpene coumarin from Citrus spp. Pharm Biol 2013; 51:545-549.
23.Iranshahi M, Kalategi F, Rezaee R, Shahverdi AR, Ito C, Furukawa H, et al. Cancer chemopreventive activity of terpenoid coumarins from Ferula species. Planta med 2008; 74:147.
24.Shakeri A, Iranshahy M, Iranshahi M. Biological properties and molecular targets of umbelliprenin – a mini-review. J Asian Nat Prod Res 2014; 16: 884-889.
25.Iranshahi M, Sahebkar A, Takasaki M, Konoshima T, Tokuda H. Cancer chemopreventive activity of the prenylated coumarin, umbelliprenin, in vivo. Eur J Cancer Prev 2009; 18:412-415.
26.Kasaian J, Iranshahy M, Iranshahi M. Synthesis, biosynthesis and biological acitivities of galbanic acid - a review. Pharm Biol 2014; 52:524-531.
27.Javidnia K, Miri R, Kamalinejad M, Edraki N. Chemical composition of Ferula persica Wild. essential oil from Iran. Flavour Frag J 2005; 20:605-606.
28.Iranshahi M, Amin G, Sourmaghi MS, Shafiee A, Hadjiakhoondi A. Sulphur‐containing compounds in the essential oil of the root of Ferula persica Willd. var. persica. Flavour Frag J 2006; 21:260-261.
29.Bagheri SM, Sahebkar A, Gohari AR, Saeidnia S, Malmir M, Iranshahi M. Evaluation of cytotoxicity and anticonvulsant activity of some Iranian medicinal Ferula species. Pharm Biol 2010; 48:242-246.
30.Hajimehdipoor H, Esmaeili S, Ramezani R, Jafari Anaraki M, Mosaddegh M. The cytotoxic effects of Ferula persica var. persica and Ferula hezarlalehzarica against HepG2, A549, HT29, MCF7 and MDBK cell lines. Iran J Pharm Sci 2012; 8:113-117.
31.Khorramizadeh M, Esmail-Nazari Z, Zarei-Ghaane Z, Shakibaie M, Mollazadeh-Moghaddam K, Iranshahi M, et al. Umbelliprenin-coated Fe3O4 magnetite nanoparticles: Antiproliferation evaluation on human Fibrosarcoma cell line (HT-1080). Mater Sci Eng C 2010; 30:1038-1042.
32.Ziai SA, Iranshahi M, Zarnani AH, Jeddi-Tehrani M. Umbelliprenin induces apoptosis in CLL cell lines. Iran J Pharm Res 2012; 11:653-659.
33.Gholami O, Jeddi-Tehrani M, Iranshahi M, Zarnani AH, Ziai SA. Umbelliprenin from Ferula szowitsiana Activates both Intrinsic and Extrinsic Pathways of Apoptosis in Jurkat T-CLL cell line. Iran J Pharm Res 2013; 12:371-376.
34.Gandhi V, Balakrishnan K, Chen LS. Mcl-1: the 1 in CLL. Blood. 2008; 112:3538-3540.
35.Gholami O, Jeddi-Tehrani M, Iranshahi M, Zarnani AH, Ziai SA. Mcl-1 Is Up regulated by prenylated coumarin, Umbelliprenin in jurkat cells. Iran J Pharm Res 2014; 13:1387.
36.Shahverdi A-R, Iranshahi M, Mirjani R, Jamalifar H, Amin G, Shafiee A. Bioassay-guided isolation and identification of an antibacterial compound from Ferula persica var. persica roots. DARU J Pharm Sci  2005; 13:17-19.
37.Shahverdi AR, Mirjani R, Amin G, Shafiee A, Iranshahi M. Bleaching of Serratia marcescens by some coumarins: a spectrophotometric study. J Basic Microbiol 2005; 45:470-474.
38.Mirjani R, Shahverdi A-R, Iranshahi M, Amin G, Shafiee A. Identification of Antifungal Compounds from Ferula persica. var. persica. Pharm Biol 2005; 43:293-295.
39.Iranshahi M, Arfa P, Ramezani M, Jaafari MR,  Sadeghian H, Bassarello C, et al. Sesquiterpene coumarins from Ferula szowitsiana and in vitro antileishmanial activity of 7-prenyloxycoumarins against promastigotes. Phytochemistry 2007; 68:554-561.
40.Soltani F, Mosaffa F, Iranshahi M, Karimi G, Malekaneh M, Haghighi F, et al. Evaluation of antigenotoxicity effects of umbelliprenin on human peripheral lymphocytes exposed to oxidative stress. Cell Biol Toxicol 2009; 25:291-296.
41.Noroozi S, Mosaffa F, Soltani F, Iranshahi M, Karimi G, Malekaneh M, et al. Antigenotoxic effects of the disulfide compound persicasulfide A (PSA) on rat lymphocytes exposed to oxidative stress. Planta Med 2009; 75:32-36.
42.Zhang S, Yang X, Morris ME. Flavonoids are inhibitors of breast cancer resistance protein (ABCG2)-mediated transport. Mol Pharmacol 2004; 65:1208-1216.
43.Samuelsson B. Leukotrienes: mediators of immediate hypersensitivity reactions and inflammation. Science 1983; 220:568-575.
44.Iranshahi M, Jabbari A, Orafaie A, Mehri R, Zeraatkar S, Ahmadi T, et al. Synthesis and SAR studies of mono O-prenylated coumarins as potent 15-lipoxygenase inhibitors. Eur J Med Chem 2012; 57:134-142.
45.Karimi G, Iranshahi M, Hosseinalizadeh F, Riahi B, Sahebkar A. Screening of acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity of terpenoid and coumarin derivatives from the genus Ferula. Pharmacologyonline 2010; 1:566-574.
46.Ellman GL, Courtney KD, Andres V, Featherstone RM. A new and rapid colorimetric determination of acetylcholinesterase activity. Biochem Pharmacol 1961; 7:88-95.
47.Ghanbari M, Zahedi KM, Vakili A. Acute and chronic effects of Ferula persica on blood pressure of hypertensive rats and its possible mechanism of action. J Med Plants 2012; 43:62-68.
48.Hashemzaei M, SadeghiBonjar MA, Tabrizian K, Iranshahi M, Iranshahy M, Rezaee R. Evaluation of the analgesic effect of Umbelliprenin and Umbelliprenin-morphine co-administration on the acute, chronic and neuropathic pain. Indian J Pharm Educ 2015; 49:121-125
49.Gholami O, Jeddi-Tehrani M, Iranshahi M, Zarnani AH, Ziai SA. Umbelliprenin from Ferula szowitsiana Activates both Intrinsic and Extrinsic Pathways of Apoptosis in Jurkat T-CLL cell line. Iran J Pharm Res 2013; 12:371.
Iranian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences
Volume 20, Issue 1
January 2017
Pages 1-8

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics