Plants have been used for medicinal purposes for thousands of years, and many people still use primitive medicines today. Most plants, however, remain unexplored. One such example is Ilex decidua (Aquifoliaceae), or the deciduous holly, which grows wild in the Southeast United States. Recently literature reports indicate other hollies in the genus Ilex (Aquifolicacaea), for example, Ilex vomitoria, or the yaupon holly, have shown cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory, or chemopreventative activity. Also, ursolic acid, a known cancer cell growth-inhibitor, was found in the berries of Ilex verticillata. In view of evidence of anti-cancer bioactivity in other Ilex species, the deciduous holly was chosen for investigation. Samples of twigs, leaves, and berries have been collected. We report our initial findings from brine shrimp (Artemia salina (Leech)) toxicity screening and compound isolation and structural studies.

Determination of bioactivity in Ilex decidua

245th National Meeting (2013)

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