The resistance inhibitory activities of 54 odorant mixtures (essential oil) from 41 Korean aromatic herbs were tested against multi-drug resistant Staphylococcus aureus SA2, which has resistances to 10 usual antibiotics including chloramphenicol. As results, combinations of 28 kinds of samples from 21 herbs and chloramphenicol have resistance inhibitory activities in dose dependent manner.

The antioxidant activity ofArtemisia iwayomogi was determined by measuring the radical scavenging effect on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical The methanol extract ofA. iwayomogi showed strong antioxidant activity, and thus fractionated with several solvents. The antioxidant activity potential of the individual fraction was in the order of ethyl acetate>n-butanol>water>chloroform>n-hexane fraction. The ethyl acetate andn-butanol soluble fractions exhibiting strong antioxidant activity were further purified by repeated silica gel and Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography. Antioxidant chlorogenic acid was isolated as one of the active principles from then-butanol fraction, together with the inactive components, 1-octacosanol, scopoletin, scopolin, apigenin 7,4'-di-O-methylether luteolin 6,3'-di-O-methylether (jaceosidin), apigenin 7-methylether (genkwanin), 2,4-dihydroxy-6-methoxyacetophenone 4-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside and quebrachitol. The antioxidant activity of chlorogenic acid was comparable to that of L-ascorbic acid, which is a well known antioxidant.

The hexane fractions from methanolic extracts of Anetheum graveolens L. (Umbelliferae) and Acorus gramineus Soland. (Araceae), revealed potent inhibitory activities against the resistance of multi-drug resistant Staphylococcus aureus SA2 when combined with ampicillin (Am) or chloramphenicol (Cm). As active principles, carvone and the liquid mixture containing carvone from Anetheum graveolens L. and a liquid mixture mainly consisting of benzoic acid phenylmethyl ester (benzyl benzoate) from Acorus gramineus Soland, were identified. They showed resistance inhibition at the level of 20-50 micrograms/ml when combined with 100 or 50 micrograms/ml of Am or Cm, respectively.

In our previous studies for the development of new anticonvulsant of broad spectrum, we found that N-cbz-alpha-aminoglutarimides showed significant anticonvulsant activities of broad spectrum enough to be recommended for the new anticonvulsants and their anticonvulsant activities were dependent on their imide substituent groups. Based on these results, various N-cbz-alpha-amino-N-alkoxyglutarimides, where the imide N-H was substituted with the hydroxy and alkoxy group, were prepared and evaluated for their anticonvulsant activities using the Maximal electroshock seizure (MES) and Pentylenetetrazole induced seizure (PTZ) tests and also the rotorod test. A series of (R) or (S)-N-cbz-alpha-amino-N-alkoxyglutarimides could be prepared from the corresponding (R) or (S)-N-cbz-glutamic acid following the usual synthetic procedure. Among them, (R)-N-cbz-alpha-amino-N-hydroxyglutarimide (ED50=86.25 mg/kg) was most active in the MES test. In the case of the PTZ test, (R)-N-cbz-alpha-amino-N-benzyloxyglutarimide (ED50=62.5 mg/kg) was most active. Among the tested compounds, 2a-c, 3a, and 3b showed anticonvulsant activities in the MES and PTZ test. All of the tested compounds, except 2f and 3f, showed significant anticonvulsant activities in the MES or PTZ test. In addition, the neurotoxicities of these compounds were comparable to other anticonvulsant drugs.

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