''Salvia pachyphylla'' (the rose sage, blue sage, or mountain desert sage) is a perennial shrub native to California, Nevada, and Arizona. In California, it grows between elevation on dry rocky slopes, blooming from July to September. It reaches high, with blue-violet flowers, rarely rose, growing in dense clusters. Pachyphyllone structure

In the course of a study of the chemical composition of the flora used in Latin American

traditional medicine Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies, including indigenous peoples, before the ...

, Ivan C. Guerrero and coworkers have performed phytochemical studies of extracts of the aerial parts from ''Salvia pachyphylla'' and '' Salvia clevelandii ''. The major secondary metabolites were isolated from these species and the ''

in vitro ''In vitro'' (meaning in glass, or ''in the glass'') studies are performed with microorganisms, cells, or biological molecules outside their normal biological context. Colloquially called "test-tube experiments", these studies in biology an ...

cytotoxic Cytotoxicity is the quality of being toxic to cells. Examples of toxic agents are an immune cell or some types of venom, e.g. from the puff adder (''Bitis arietans'') or brown recluse spider (''Loxosceles reclusa''). Cell physiology Treating cells ...

effects against five human cancer cells were reported for eight of the compounds obtained:

carnosol Carnosol is a phenolic diterpene found in the herbs rosemary (''Rosmarinus officinalis'') and Mountain desert sage (''Salvia pachyphylla''). It has been studied in-vitro for anti-cancer effects in various cancer cell types. See also * Carnosic ...

, rosmanol, 20-deoxocarnosol,

carnosic acid Carnosic acid is a natural benzenediol abietane diterpene found in rosemary (''Rosmarinus officinalis'') and common sage (''Salvia officinalis''). Dried leaves of rosemary and sage contain 1.5 to 2.5% carnosic acid. Carnosic acid and carnosol, a ...

, isorosmanol, 7-methoxyrosmanol, 5,6-didehydro-''O''-methylsugiol, 8β-hydroxy-9(11),13-abietadien-12-one, 11,12-dioxoabieta-8,13-diene, and 11,12-dihydroxy-20-norabieta-5(10),8,11,13-tetraen-1-one, and pachyphyllone.Ivan C. Guerrero, Lucia S. Andres, Leticia G. Leon, Ruben P. Machin, Jose M. Padron, Javier G. Luis, and Jose Delgadillo. Abietane Diterpenoids from ''Salvia pachyphylla'' and ''S. clevelandii'' with Cytotoxic Activity against Human Cancer Cell Lines. ''J. Nat. Prod.'' (2006) 69, 1803-1805

References

External links

USDA Plants ProfileJepson manualPhoto galleryUBC Botanical Gardens
pachyphylla Flora of California Flora of Arizona Flora of Nevada Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Salvia-stub