In vivo evaluation of analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity of hydroalcoholic extracts from Handroanthus impetiginosus and their chemical composition by UPLC/MS analysis.

This study demonstrates in vivo analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties of hydroalcoholic extracts of leaves, bark and flowers from the Handroanthus impetiginosus (Bignoniaceae) plant, recognized as 'Ipê roxo' in Brazil. The extracts were evaluated in male Swiss albino mice via oral administration. Moreover, results of the in vivo paw oedema test induced by carrageenan revealed that extracts of leaves and bark displayed relevant anti-inflammatory activity potential at the dosage of 100 mg/kg, 300 mg/kg, and 500 mg/kg. Likewise, the results obtained for leaves and flowers extracts suggested potent analgesic action in the conventional hot plate test. UPLC/MS analysis of the hydroalcoholic extracts samples identified metabolites belonging to several classes, mainly naphthoquinones and iridoids derivatives as well as flavonoids. Thus, the obtained results indicate that the extracts of H. impetiginosus plant parts could be considered as a complementary herbal medicine for the treatment of pain and inflammation disorders.

Evaluation of lignan-loaded poly(ε-caprolactone) nanoparticles: synthesis, characterization, in vivo and in silico schistosomicidal activity.

Lignan dinitrohinokinin displays important biological activities, which led to the preparation of its poly-ε-caprolactone nanoparticles. Kinetics analysis revealed initially slow drug release followed by a prolonged, moderate release 6 h later due to DNHK diffusion through the polymeric matrix. Molecular dynamics simulations show that DNHK molecules that interact stronger with other DNHK molecules near the PCL/DNHK surface are more difficult to dissociate from the nanoparticle. The smaller diameter nanocapsules with negative surface charge conferred good colloidal stability. The formulations showed a size distribution with monodisperse systems formation. In vivo evaluation of schistosomicidal activity against Schistosoma mansoni showed that DNHK, when incorporated into nanoparticles, caused egg number reduction of 4.2% and 28.1% at 40 mg/kg and 94.2% and 84.4% at 400 mg/kg in the liver and the spleen, respectively. The PCL nanoparticles were stable in aqueous dispersion and could be optimized to be used as a promising lignan release agent.

Hypoglycemic effect of rosmarinic acid-rich infusion (RosCE) from Origanum vulgare in alloxan-induced diabetic rats.

Origanum vulgare, known for its medicinal value, is officially accepted in many countries. The flowers and leaves are used globally in homeopathy. In Brazilian folk medicine, O. vulgare has been used to treat diabetes mellitus. This study evaluated the hypoglycemic activity of an infusion extract (RosCE) of commercially available O. vulgare leaves in alloxan-induced diabetic rats. Oral administration of RosCE resulted in the reduction of blood glucose levels after the first day of treatment, compared to the diabetic control group. These results showed that RosCE displays hypoglycemic activity, which may be due to the combined effect of rosmarinic acid, and other minor compounds. Reversed phase-high performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection was used to identify and quantify the major constituents of RosCE. This study presents evidence that supports the folkloric use of O. vulgare for the treatment of hyperglycemia, confirming the use of its infusion as an antidiabetic herbal medicine.

Antiplasmodial evaluation of Anacardium occidentale and alkyl-phenols

Abstract The ethanol crude extract from cashew (Anacardium occidentale L. Anacardiaceae) displayed significant antiplasmodial activity (IC50 0.577 µg/ml). Liquid chromatography-high resolution Mass spectrometry analysis was performed to identify the main compounds existing in the ethanol extract. The occurrence of anacardic acids, cardols, and 2-methylcardols derivatives was confirmed in the extract. The IC50 obtained, when the main isolated compounds were evaluated in Plasmodium falciparum D6 strain, ranged from 5.39 µM to >100 µM. Tested here for the first time, the data showed that cardol triene 1 (IC50 = 5.69 µM) and 2-methylcardol triene 4 (IC50 = 5.39 µM) demonstrated good antimalarial activity. In conclusion, Anacardium occidentale nuts presented relevant biological potential, and further studies should be considered.

In vitro Activities of Pfaffia glomerata Root Extract, Its Hydrolyzed Fractions and Pfaffic Acid Against Trypanosoma cruzi Trypomastigotes.

This article reports on the in vitro activity of the hydroalcoholic extract of Pfaffia glomerata roots, its hydrolyzed fractions, and pfaffic acid against Trypanosoma cruzi. The hydroalcoholic extract obtained from dried, milled P. glomerata roots was submitted to acid hydrolysis followed by partition with CHCl3 . The concentrated CHCl3 fraction was suspended in MeOH/H2 O and partitioned with hexane (F1), CHCl3 (F2), and AcOEt (F3), in this sequence. The trypanocidal activity of the hydrolyzed extract and its fractions was evaluated in vitro. The hydroalcoholic extract displayed low activity, but fraction F1 was active against trypomastigotes of the Y strain of T. cruzi, with IC50 = 47.89 µg/ml. The steroids campesterol (7.7%), stigmasterol (18.7%), ß-sitosterol (16.8%), Δ7 -stigmastenol (4.6%), and Δ7 -spinasterol (7.5%) were the major constituents of F1, along with fatty acid esters (7.6%) and eight aliphatic hydrocarbons (30.1%). Fractions F2 and F3 exhibited moderate activity, and pfaffic acid, one of the main chemical constituents of these fractions, displayed IC50 = 44.78 µm (21.06 µg/ml). On the other hand, the hydroalcoholic extract of P. glomerata roots, which is rich in pfaffosides, was inactive. Therefore, the main aglycone of pfaffosides, pfaffic acid, is much more active against trypomastigotes of the Y strain of T. cruzi than its corresponding glycosides and should be further investigated.

Incorporation of anti-inflammatory agent into mesoporous silica.

The unique properties of macroporous, mesoporous, and microporous systems, including their ability to accommodate molecules of different sizes inside their pores and to act as drug delivery systems, have been the object of extensive studies. In this work, mesoporous silica with hexagonal structure was obtained by template synthesis via the sol-gel process. The resulting material was used as support to accommodate the anti-inflammatory agent indomethacin. The alkaline route was used to prepare the mesoporous silica; cetyltrimethylammonium bromide was employed as porogenic agent. The silica particles were functionalized with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane alkoxide (APTES) by the sol-gel post-synthesis method. Indomethacin was incorporated into the silica functionalized with APTES and into non-functionalized silica. The resulting systems were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), specific area, infrared spectroscopy, and thermal analyses (TGA). XRD attested to formation of mesoporous silica with hexagonal structure. This structure remained after silica functionalization with APTES and incorporation of indomethacin. Typical infrared spectroscopy vibrations and organic material decomposition during TGA confirmed silica functionalization and drug incorporation. The specific surface area and pore volume of the functionalized material incorporated with indomethacin decreased as compared with the specific surface area and pore volume of the non-functionalized silica containing no drug, suggesting both the functionalizing agent and the drug were present in the silica. Cytotoxicity tests conducted on normal fibroblasts (GM0479A) cells attested that the silica matrix containing indomethacin was less toxic than the free drug.

Antibacterial activity of (-)-cubebin isolated from Piper cubeba and its semisynthetic derivatives against microorganisms that cause endodontic infections

Abstract Recent publications have highlighted the numerous biological activities attributed to the lignan (-)-cubebin (1), Piper cubeba L. f., Piperaceae, and ongoing studies have focused on its structural optimization, in order to obtain derivatives with greater pharmacological potential. The aim of this study was the obtainment of (1), its semisynthetic derivatives and evaluation of antibacterial activity. The extract of the seeds of P. cubeba was chromatographed, subjected to recrystallization and was analyzed by HPLC and spectrometric techniques. It was used for the synthesis of: (-)-O-methylcubebin (2), (-)-O-benzylcubebin (3), (-)-O-acetylcubebin (4), (-)-O-(N, N-dimethylamino-ethyl)-cubebin (5), (-)-hinokinin (6) and (-)-6.6'-dinitrohinokinin (7). The evaluation of the antibacterial activity has been done by broth microdilution technique for determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration and the minimum bactericidal concentration against Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella nigrescens, Actinomyces naeslundii, Bacteroides fragilis and Fusobacterium nucleatum. It was possible to make an analysis regarding the relationship between structure and antimicrobial activity of derivatives against microorganisms that cause endodontic infections. The most promising were minimum inhibitory concentration =50 µg/ml against P. gingivalis by (2) and (3), and minimum inhibitory concentration =100 µg/ml against B. fragilis by (6). Cytotoxicity assays demonstrated that (1) and its derivatives do not display toxicity.

In vitro and in vivo anthelmintic activity of (-)-6,6'-dinitrohinokinin against schistosomula and juvenile and adult worms of Schistosoma mansoni.

The chemotherapy of schistosomiasis relies on the use of praziquantel. However, concerns over drug resistance have encouraged the search for new drug leads. This paper is the first report on the in vitro and in vivo activity of (-)-6,6'-dinitrohinokinin (DNK) against Schistosoma mansoni. In vitro, the lethal concentrations for 50% of parasites (LC50) of DNK against adult worms were 103.9±3.6 and 102.5±4.8µM at 24 and 72h, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy images showed extensive tegumental alterations such as peeling and smaller numbers of tubercles in the spine of adult worms. DNK also elicited high mortality of schistosomula, with LC50 values of 57.4±2.3, 32.5±0.9, and 20.4±1.2µM at 24, 48, and 72h, respectively. DNK displayed moderate activity against the juvenile liver parasite, with an LC50 value of 179.5±2.3 µM at 72h. This compound reduced the total number of eggs by over 83%, and it affected the development of eggs produced by adult worms. The selectivity index showed that at 24h, DNK was 8.5 and 15.4 times more toxic to the adult worms and schistosomula than to Chinese hamster lung fibroblast cells, respectively. Treatment of infected mice with DNK moderately decreased worm burden (33.8-52.3%), egg production (40.7-60.0%), and spleen and liver weights. Together, our results indicated that DNK presents moderate in vitro and in vivo activities against S. mansoni, and it might therefore be interesting to explore the structure-activity relationship of the antischistosomal activity of this compound.

Tetrahydrofuran lignans from Nectandra megapotamica with trypanocidal activity.

The phytochemical investigation of the crude ethanol extract of the leaves of Nectandra megapotamica afforded three new (2d, 3b, and 3c) and eight known (1a-d, 2a-c, and 3a) tetrahydrofuran lignans. Regarding the in vitro trypanocidal activity, the lignan-rich fraction, at a concentration of 2.0 mg/mL, was 100% active. Compound 1a was the most active, showing an IC(50) value of 2.2 microM and lysis of 94% of the parasites at 32 microM. Compounds 1b, 1d, 2a, 2c, and 3a displayed moderate activity, while compound 1c was inactive.