Salud Pérez-Gutiérrez

ACTIVIDAD HIPOGLUCEMIANTE DE BOUVARDIA TERNIFLORA, BRICKELLIA VERONICAEFOLIA Y PARMENTIERA EDULIS

Objetivo. Evaluar la actividad hipoglucemiante de los extractos de hexano, cloroformo y metanol de Brickellia veronicaefolia, Bouvardia terniflora y Parmentiera edulis. Material y metodos. Se probaron los extractos de las plantas (100, 200 y 300 mg/kg, via intraperitoneal) en ratones normoglucemicos y con diabetes inducida con aloxana. Resultados. La administracion de 300 mg/kg de los extractos cloroformicos de P. edulis, B. terniflora y hexanico de B. veronicaefolia en ratones diabeticos disminuye el nivel de glucosa sanguinea en 43.75, 58.56 y 72.13%, respectivamente. Estos extractos (300 mg/kg), administrados en ratones normoglucemicos, reducen la glucosa sanguinea en 29.61, 33.42 y 39.84%, respectivamente. Conclusiones. Con este estudio se confirma la actividad hipoglucemiante de estas plantas usadas en la medicina tradicional para el tratamiento de la diabetes.

Bioactivity of Carica papaya (Caricaceae) against Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

The composition of a chloroform seed extract of C. papaya was determined by GC-MS. Nineteen compounds were identified, with oleic (45.97%), palmitic (24.1%) and stearic (8.52%) acids being the main components. The insecticidal and insectistatic activities of the extract and the three main constituents were tested. Larval duration increased by 3.4 d and 2.5 d when the extract was used at 16,000 and 9,600 ppm, respectively, whereas the pupal period increased by 2.2 d and 1.1 d at the same concentrations. Larval viability values were 0%, 29.2%, and 50% when the extract was applied at 24,000, 16,000, and 9,600 ppm, respectively; pupal viability was 42.9% and 66.7% at 16,000 and 9,600 ppm; and pupal weight decreased by 25.4% and 11.5% at 16,000 and 9,600 ppm. The larval viability of the main compounds was 33.3%, 48.5%, and 62.5% when exposed to 1,600 ppm of palmitic acid, oleic acid, or stearic acid, respectively.

Antidiarrheal activity of 19-deoxyicetexone isolated from Salvia ballotiflora Benth in mice and rats.

The antidiarrheal properties of 19-deoxyicetexone, a diterpenoid isolated from Salvia ballotiflora were evaluated on castor oil-, arachidonic acid (AA)- and prostaglandin (PGE2)-induced diarrhea in rodent models. The structure of 19-deoxyicetexone was determined by X-ray crystallography, mass spectrometry (EI-MS), as well as ultraviolet (UV-Vis), infrared (FT-IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopies. This compound significantly and dose-dependently reduced frequency of stooling in castor oil-induced diarrhea, and at dose of 25 mg/kg it also inhibited diarrhea induced with AA, while it had no effect on PGE2-induced diarrhea. This compound at doses of 25 mg/kg also diminished castor oil-induced enteropooling and intestinal motility, and inhibited the contraction of the rats’ ileum induced by carbachol chloride at a concentration of 100 µg/mL. 19-Deoxyicetexone did not present acute toxicity at doses of 625 mg/kg. Its antidiarrheal activity may be due to increased reabsorption of NaCl and water and inhibition of the release of prostaglandins, gastrointestinal motility and fluid accumulation in the intestinal tracts of rats. These findings suggest that 19-deoxyicetexone may be used in the treatment of diarrhea, although more studies must be carried out to confirm this.

Antidiarrhoeal activity of nonanal, an aldehyde isolated from Artemisia ludoviciana

The antidiarrhoeal activity of the essential oil obtained from A. ludoviciana was analyzed. Nonanal was identified as the compound responsible for this biological effect. The pure compound was tested on castor oil-, magnesium sulfate-, arachidonic acid- and PGE 2 -induced diarrhoea in CD1 mice. In addition, its effect on the intestinal transit of Wistar rats stimulated by castor oil was studied. Nonanal showed a significant inhibitory effect on mice with diarrhoea induced with castor oil, MgSO 4 and arachidonic acid. However, with the PGE 2 -induced diarrhoea model, the effect was smaller. It also showed an important delayed the intestinal transit activity 30 min after its administration. The compound does not have a constipating effect because it does not showed any effect on normal defecation of mice. The nonanal isolated from A. ludoviciana showed symptomatic relief of induced diarrhoea.

Kramecyne — A New Anti-inflammatory Compound Isolated from Krameria cytisoides

In the present work we describe the structure and anti-inflammatory activity of a new compound, kramecyne, isolated from a methanol extract of Krameria cytisoides (Krameriaceae). The structure of kramecyne was determined by IR, NMR, MS, and elemental analysis, which indicated that the structure corresponded to a hexamer of cyclic peroxide monomers. This compound exhibited good anti-inflammatory activity in the 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-induced mouse ear edema (51.8 ± 6.9% inhibition) and carrageenan-induced rat paw edema models at doses of 50 mg/kg. The compound significantly reduced edema to 63.1% after 1.0 h, and the effect was unchanged for 5 h. Kramecyne did not present acute toxicity, even at doses of 5,000 mg/kg.

Fungicidal Properties of the Essential Oil of Hesperozygis marifolia on Aspergillus flavus Link

The chemical composition of the essential oil from Hesperozygis marifolia was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and fourteen compounds were identified. (R)-pulegone (40.75%), isomenthone (30.34%) and menthone (4.46%) were found to be the main components of the oil. The essential oil at a concentration of 2.0 mg/mL and (R)-pulegone at concentration of 0.8 mg/mL completely inhibited the growth of Aspergillus flavus Link. The fungicidal effects of this essential oil warrant further research into its potential for commercial use.

Composition and Antidiarrheal Activity of Bidens odorata Cav.

The antidiarrheal effects of chloroform, methanol, and aqueous extracts of Bidens odorata Cav. were investigated at doses of 200 mg/kg on castor-oil-induced diarrhea. The chloroform extract of B. odorata (CBO) reduced diarrhea by 72.72%. The effect of CBO was evaluated on mice with diarrhea induced by castor oil, MgSO4, arachidonic acid, or prostaglandin E2. CBO inhibited the contraction induced by carbachol chloride on ileum (100 µg/mL) and intestinal transit (200 mg/kg) in Wistar rats. The active fraction of CBO (F4) at doses of 100 mg/kg inhibited the diarrhea induced by castor oil (90.1%) or arachidonic acid (72.9%) but did not inhibit the diarrhea induced by PGE2. The active fraction of F4 (FR5) only was tested on diarrhea induced with castor oil and inhibited this diarrhea by 92.1%. The compositions of F4 and FR5 were determined by GC-MS, and oleic, palmitic, linoleic, and stearic acids were found. F4 and a mixture of the four fatty acids inhibited diarrhea at doses of 100 mg/kg (90.1% and 70.6%, resp.). The results of this study show that B. odorata has antidiarrheal effects, as is claimed by folk medicine, and could possibly be used for the production of a phytomedicine.

Assessment of the Anti-Protozoal Activity of Crude Carica papaya Seed Extract against Trypanosoma cruzi

In order to determine the in vivo activity against the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, two doses (50 and 75 mg/kg) of a chloroform extract of Carica papaya seeds were evaluated compared with a control group of allopurinol. The activity of a mixture of the three main compounds (oleic, palmitic and stearic acids in a proportion of 45.9% of oleic acid, 24.1% of palmitic and 8.52% of stearic acid previously identified in the crude extract of C. papaya was evaluated at doses of 100, 200 and 300 mg/kg. Both doses of the extracts were orally administered for 28 days. A significant reduction (p < 0.05) in the number of blood trypomastigotes was observed in animals treated with the evaluated doses of the C. papaya extract in comparison with the positive control group (allopurinol 8.5 mg/kg). Parasitemia in animals treated with the fatty acids mixture was also significantly reduced (p < 0.05), compared to negative control animals. These results demonstrate that the fatty acids identified in the seed extracts of C. papaya (from ripe fruit) are able to reduce the number of parasites from both parasite stages, blood trypomastigote and amastigote (intracellular stage).

Inhibitory effect of five plant extracts on heart rates of rats

Aqueous extracts of Loeselia mexicana, Calendula officinalis, Teloxys graveolens, Oenothera roseae and Castilleja tenuiflora were tested on the heart activity of male Wistar rats. It was found that C. officinalis, T. graveolens, L. mexicana and O. roseae inhibited the heart contractile activity rising to 100% inhibition at doses of 0.3, 0.5, 0.7 and 1.0 mg/mL respectively. However, C. tenuiflora increases the rate of the heart activity at doses from 0.1 to 0.6 mg/mL.

Antinociceptive and anti-arthritic effects of kramecyne

AIMS The aim of this study was to evaluate the antinociceptive (acute assays) and anti-inflammatory (chronic assays) effects of kramecyne (KACY), a peroxide isolated from Krameria cytisoides. MAIN METHODS The antinociceptive activity of KACY was evaluated using the hot plate, acetic acid and formalin tests. The effects of KACY on heat-induced hemolysis in rat erythrocytes were also evaluated. The in vivo anti-inflammatory assays were performed using the chronic TPA (12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate) method to induce ear edema and carrageenan-kaolin induced arthritis (CKIA). In the CKIA model, the hot plate test was performed, serum samples were obtained for the quantitation of pro-inflammatory (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-12 and TNF-α) and anti-inflammatory (IL-4 and IL-10) cytokines. KEY FINDINGS KACY possess antinociceptive effects with comparable activity to naproxen (NPX). KACY inhibited hemolysis (EC50 = 180 μg/mL), in comparison to the untreated group and with a higher potency than NPX (EC50 = 263 μg/mL). KACY at 50 mg/kg decreased inflammation by 38% (chronic TPA-induced edema model) and by 26% (CKIA model), in comparison with the vehicle group and with similar activity to the positive controls 8 mg/kg indomethacin (IND) and 1 mg/kg methotrexate (MTX), respectively. In the CKIA model, KACY increased the release of anti-inflammatory (IL-4 and IL-10) cytokines but reduced the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-12 and TNF-α). KACY at 50 and 100 mg/kg showed antinociceptive effects by 27% and 23%, respectively, in mice with mono-arthritis. SIGNIFICANCE KACY might be a good alternative for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) due its antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities.