Bay leaf contains compounds capable of inhibiting nitric oxide formation. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Megastigmane and phenolic components from Laurus nobilis L. leaves and their inhibitory effects on nitric oxide production.
J Agric Food Chem. 2004 Dec 15;52(25):7525-31. PMID: 15675799
Dipartimento di Chimica delle Sostanze Naturali and Dipartimento di Farmacologia Sperimentale, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Via D. Montesano 49, I-80131 Naples, Italy.
Laurus nobilis L. leaves are widely used in cooking and in folk medicine. Five new megastigmane glucosides (2-4, 7, and 9) named laurosides A-E and a new phenolic glucoside 12 were isolated from the methanolic extract of L. nobilis L. leaves, along with 10 known components: megastigmane (5), megastigmane glucosides (1, 6, 8, 10, and 11), aromatic compounds (13 and 14), and flavonoids (15 and 16). The structures and relative stereochemistry have been elucidated by one- and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance experiments ((1)H and (13)C NMR, DEPT, correlation spectroscopy, heteronuclear multiple quantum correlation, heteronuclear multiple bond correlation, and nuclear Overhauser enhancement spectroscopy) and by chemical derivatization. The effect of isolated compounds on nitric oxide production in lipopolysaccharide-activated murine macrophages were examined.