Investigation of pharmacognostic and biological activities of Vitex agnus-castus L. (chaste tree)

Vitex agnus-castus L. (Chaste tree) (Lamiaceae) is used among the public as a stimulant, digestive and calming agent, and its common medical use is the treatment of premenstrual syndrome. Generally, its fruits are used. There are various studies on its biological activities. There are some studies in the literature on the anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic activities of its component, casticisin. Within the scope of this thesis, determination of foreign matter, total ash content, moisture content, macroscopic and microscopic examinations of nutritional Vitex agnus-castus aerial parts in flowering and fruiting periods from three different localities were carried out according to the European pharmacopoeia. In the aboveground parts, the essential oil was obtained by water distillation; the extracts were obtained by maceration in 70% ethanol. The chemical profiles of essential oils and extracts were determined by thin layer chromatography (TLC); the content of essential oils was analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Casticin isolation studies were performed by column chromatography. After isolation, the presence of casticin was determined by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry-mass spectrometry (LC/MS-MS). The antimicrobial effects of essential oils and extracts were investigated with microdilution; anti-inflammatory effects with 5-LOX assay; and cell culture studies on HTERT-HPNE and PANC-1 cell lines. Efficacy evaluation for adenovirus was performed by determining CD46 receptor expression in PANC-1 with the Human CD46 Elisa Kit.