Adipogenic Activity of Wild Populations of Rhododendron groenlandicum, a Medicinal Shrub from the James Bay Cree Traditional Pharmacopeia

Abstract

The traditional medicinal plant, Labrador tea (Rhododendron groenlandicum (Oeder) Kron & Judd; Ericaceae), present in the pharmacopoeia of the Cree of Eeyou Istchee, has shown glitazone-like activity in the 3T3-L1 adipogenesis bioassay. This activity has been attributed to phenolic compounds, which have been shown to vary in this plant as a function of insolation parameters. The goal of this study was to determine if these changes in phenolic content were pharmacologically significant. Leaves were harvested in 2006 throughout the James Bay region of Northern Quebec and ethanol extracts were tested in vitro using the 3T3-L1 murine cell line adipogenesis bioassay. This traditional medicinal plant was found active in the assay. However, there was no detectable spatial pattern in the accumulation of intracellular triglycerides, suggesting that such patterns previously observed in the phenolic profile of Labrador tea were not pharmacologically significant. Nonetheless, a reduction in the adipogenic activity was observed and associated with higher concentrations of quercetin for which selected environmental variables did not appropriately explain its variation.