The antiinflammatory effects of ethanol and aqueous extracts from Drosera rotundifolia and from Drosera madagascariensis were compared in vivo in the HET-CAM assay. Both extracts from D. rotundifolia and the ethanol extract from D. madagascariensis showed remarkable efficacy at doses of 500 microg/pellet. The inhibition of the inflammation by the extracts was stronger than that by 50 microg hydrocortisone/pellet. In contrast, there was only a very weak effect observed at a dose of 500 microg/pellet of the water extract from D. madagascariensis. The chemical analyses of the extracts showed that the effect cannot be attributed to naphthoquinones, but might be due to flavonoids. Ellagic acid obviously plays an important role in the antiangiogenic effect of the Drosera extracts.

In investigations of the anti-inflammatory and spasmolytic effects of Drosera rotundifolia two extracts were tested in different in vitro assays. An aqueous and an ethanolic extract inhibited human neutrophil elastase, achieving IC50 values of 5 and 1 microg/mL, respectively. The very low naphthoquinone concentrations in the extracts seem not to be responsible for the effect, as the pure compounds were not effective in the test system used. Thus, flavonoids like hyperoside, quercetin and isoquercitrin, which were detected in the extracts in considerable concentrations, may contribute to the activity. These substances showed activity in the assay. Ellagic acid, detected especially in the ethanolic extract in higher amounts, was substantially less active than the flavonoids. In guinea-pig ileum the extracts led to an antispasmodic effect possibly by affecting an allosteric binding site of the muscarinic M3 receptors.

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SummaryA growth model for Claviceps purpurea in submerged batch culture is presented. In developing the model, the basic principles of the growth and the morphological properties of C. purpurea are considered. The growth of C . purpurea is assumed to occur in a three-step manner; the first step involves the assimilation and the growth of cells; the second one involves cell division, and the third one involves transformation of the mature cells to a state where they have no ability to divide but do have the ability to produce ergot alkaloids and then they gradually die. Inorganic phosphate is assumed to be the limiting substrate for the first and the second steps in conditions of carbon source being in excess. The model constants are determined by model simulation and graphical searching techniques to find the minimum value of the absolute difference between the experimental and the simulated curves for biomass, alkaloids, and sucrose.