S. T. Rodrigues

Ethnoveterinary knowledge of the inhabitants of Marajó Island, Eastern Amazonia, Brazil

Em varias partes do mundo existem relatos etnoveterinarios sobre a utilizacao de plantas em protocolos terapeuticos, entretanto nao existem informacoes disponiveis sobre a etnoveterinaria praticada na Amazonia brasileira. Desta forma, objetivou-se documentar o conhecimento etnoveterinario de habitantes da Ilha do Marajo, Amazonia Oriental. Foram realizadas 50 entrevistas individuais com aplicacao de questionarios semi-estruturados que foram analisados quantitativamente atraves de estatistica descritiva utilizando frequencia de distribuicao. O valor de uso foi calculado para determinar as especies mais importantes. Amostras de plantas com relatos de uso medicinal foram coletadas e identificadas botanicamente. Cinquenta plantas, distribuidas em 48 generos e 34 familias, foram indicadas para 21 diferentes usos medicinais. A familia Asteraceae foi a que teve maior numero de especies citadas e Carapa guianensis Aubl, Crescentia cujete L., Copaifera martii Hayne, Caesalpinia ferrea Mart., Chenopodium ambrosioides L., Jatropha curcas L. e Momordica charantia L. foram as especies com maiores valor de uso. As partes das plantas mais utilizadas para preparo dos medicamentos etnoveterinarios foram folhas (56%), cascas (18%), raizes (14%), sementes (14%) e frutos (8%). Quanto a forma de uso o cha foi citado por 56% dos entrevistados e a maioria das preparacoes (90,9%) utiliza uma so planta. Alem das plantas medicinais, os entrevistados relataram o uso de produtos de origem animal e mineral. Esse trabalho contribui para realizacao de um inventario das plantas utilizadas na etnoveterinaria marajoara que pode servir de base de dados para futuros estudos de validacao cientifica.

Ethnoveterinary knowledge and practices at Colares island, Pará state, eastern Amazon, Brazil

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE The lack of ethnoveterinary surveys in Brazil, especially in the Amazon region, results in losses in the veterinary phytopharmacology field and in scientific documentation of the cultural traditions of plant use in the treatment of animal diseases. AIM OF THE STUDY To catalog, analyze and disseminate the ethnoveterinary knowledge of the inhabitants of Colares Island, Pará state, eastern Amazon, Brazil. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 72 interviews were conducted, and semi-structured questionnaires were answered by 18 men and 54 women. The data obtained were quantitatively analyzed using the informant consensus factor (ICF) and use value (UV). The plants with a reported medicinal use for domestic animals were harvested, herbalized and botanically identified. RESULTS Fifty-six plants, distributed in 49 genera and 35 families, were indicated to have 23 different medicinal uses, divided into six categories of use. The highest ICF (0.80) was obtained for the antiparasitic class. The Euphorbiaceae family exhibited the highest number of citations, and the species with the highest UVs were Caladium cf. bicolor, Bixa orellana, Carapa guianensis, Jatropha curcas and Cymbopogon citratus. The parts of the 56 plants that were most frequently used to prepare ethnoveterinary medications were the leaves (46%), bark (15%), roots and fruit (10%). The use of the macerated leaves was the most common method of application, used by 43% of the interviewees, and the majority of the preparations (87.3%) used a single plant. In addition to medicinal plants, the interviewees reported the use of products of animal and mineral origin. CONCLUSION The present study contributed to the establishment of an inventory of plants used in ethnoveterinary practices in this region of the Brazilian eastern Amazon. Future phytochemical and pharmacological studies are needed to confirm the efficacy and safety of the identified plants, enabling communities to use them in a more economic, effective and safe manner.

Flavonoids and other compounds from Ouratea ferruginea (Ochnaceae) as anticancer and chemopreventive agents.

The chemical study of the extracts from leaves and stems of Ouratea ferruginea allowed the identification of a new isoflavone, 5-hydroxy-7,3′4′5′-tetramethoxyisoflavone, and twenty two known compounds, including friedelin, 3β-friedelinol, lupeone, a mixture of sitosterol, stigmasterol and campesterol, sitosteryl- and stigmasteryl-3-O-β-D-glucopyranosides, 5,4′-dihydroxy-7,5′,3′-trimethoxyisoflavone, 5,4′-dihydroxy-7,3′-di-methoxyisoflavone (7,3′-di-O-methylorobol), 5,7,4′-trihydroxy-3′,5′-dimethoxyisoflavone (piscigenin), 2R,3R-epicatechin, syringic acid, 2,6-dimethoxybenzoquinone, 2,6-dimethoxyhydroquinone, syringic and ferulic aldehyde, a mixture of vanillic acid, 1-hydroxy-2-methoxy-4-(1E-3-hydroxy-1-propenyl)-benzene and 3,5-dimethoxy-4-hydroxy-dihydrocinamaldehyde, besides amenthoflavone and 7-O-methylamenthoflavone (sequoiaflavone) which are considered as chemotaxonomic markers of Ouratea. The structures were identified by IR, 1H- and 13C-NMR and GC-MS, HPLC-MS, besides comparison with literature data. The inhibitory effects of 5,4′-dihydroxy-7,5′,3′-trimethoxyisoflavone, 7,3′-di-O-methylorobol, piscigenin and 7-O-methylamenthoflavone on cytochrome P450-dependent 7-ethoxycoumarin O-deethylase (ECOD) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) were evaluated in vitro. The 5,4′-dihydroxy-7,5′,3′-trimethoxy-isoflavone was the best inhibitor, inhibiting almost 75% of GST activity. Sequoiaflavone was the most potent inhibitor, inhibiting ECOD assay in 75%. These activities allow us to consider both these flavonoids as potential anticancer and chemopreventive agents.