As especiarias no cotidiano dos idosos / The spices in the everyday of the elderly

Objetivo: identificar a utilização de especiarias pela população idosa. Método: estudo exploratório descritivo, de abordagem quantitativa, realizado com 351 idosos frequentadores do Consórcio Público Intermunicipal de Saúde do Setentrião Paranaense. Os dados foram coletados por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas, analisados por meio do software Statdisk Versão 8.4, apresentados em tabelas e discutidos com a literatura. Resultados: constatou-se que 98,0% dos idosos são usuários de especiarias e 86,8% fazem seu uso diariamente. Muitos destes relataram utilizá-las além da culinária no preparo de chás (32,8%) e afirmam acreditar no efeito terapêutico destas. Conclusão: O estudo demonstra a necessidade de ações educativas que aprimorem a utilização dessas especiarias. A orientação por profissionais da saúde, bem como o acesso a informações sobre a importância dessas especiarias, poderia ser uma opção terapêutica a mais no cotidiano desses idosos.

In vitro antiviral activity from Acanthospermum australe on herpesvirus and poliovirus.

CONTEXT: The Asteraceae family has been of interest to researchers due to the presence of polyphenolic compounds, mainly flavonoids, which demonstrated antiviral activity. OBJECTIVE: The hydroethanol extract of the aerial parts of Acanthospermum australe (Loefl.) Kuntze (Asteraceae) and its fractions, were evaluated in vitro for their potential cytotoxic and antiviral activity against bovine herpesvirus and human poliovirus. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The sulforhodamine B colorimetric assay were used to evaluate the capacity of the hydroethanol extract and fractions to inhibit the lytic activity of herpes and poliovirus in infected cell cultures and their influence on the viability of uninfected cell cultures. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: A progressive increase in the antiviral effect against herpesvirus was observed in the course of the purification process of the extract. The hydroethanol extract had a 50% antiviral effective concentration (EC(50)) at 70 µg/mL and 36 µg/mL for herpes and poliovirus, respectively, and it exhibited no cytotoxicity. The fractions F3 (dichloromethane) and F4 (dichloromethane: ethyl acetate (1:1 v/v)) both showed EC(50) at 6.25 µg/mL against herpesvirus, and these fractions showed cytotoxic concentrations (CC(50)) at 12.7 and 11.7 µg/mL, respectively. These fractions had no effect against poliovirus in the concentrations tested. From the bioactive F3, a diterpene lactone (acanthoaustralide-1-O-acetate) was isolated at a concentration of 0.5% and from F4 two flavonoids (quercetin and chrysosplenol D) were isolated at concentrations of 0.14 and 0.24%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The present study reports for the first time the antiviral activity of extracts and fractions from A. australe aerial parts.