In Vitro and In Vivo Wound Healing and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Babassu Oil (Attalea speciosa Mart. Ex Spreng., Arecaceae).

Babassu (Attalea speciosa Mart. ex Spreng., Arecaceae) is a palm tree endemic to Brazil and found mainly in the borders of Amazon forest, where the harvesting of its fruits is an important source of income for more than 300,000 people. Among the communities of coconut breakers women, babassu oil is used in culinary, as fuel, and mostly as medicinal oil for the treatment of skin wounds and inflammation. This study aimed to evaluate in vitro and in vivo the wound healing effects of babassu oil. In vitro, babassu oil increased the migration of L929 fibroblasts, inhibited the production of nitric oxide by LPS-stimulated peritoneal macrophages, and increased the levels of INF-γ and IL-6 cytokines production. In vivo, babassu oil accelerated the healing process in a full-thickness splinted wound model, by an increase in the fibroblasts number, blood vessels, and collagen deposition in the wounds. The babassu oil also increased the recruitment of inflammatory cells into the wound site and showed an anti-inflammatory effect in a chronic ear edema model, reducing ear thickness, epidermal hyperplasia, and myeloperoxidase activity. Thus, these data corroborate the use of babassu oil in folk medicine as a remedy to treat skin wounds.

Saline extract from Malpighia emarginata DC leaves showed higher polyphenol presence, antioxidant and antifungal activity and promoted cell proliferation in mice splenocytes.

Currently, the research of new natural compounds with biological potential demonstrates great ethnopharmacological importance. In this study, we evaluated the biological properties promoted by saline extract from Malpighia emarginata DC leaves, whose objective is to evaluate the antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxicity potential. Phytochemical characterization was performed by UPLC-MS chromatography to identify the chemical compounds. For the antioxidant potential, DPPH, ATT and FRAP methods were used. The antibacterial and antifungal tests were performed evaluating the MIC50, MIC90, CMB and CMF parameters. Moreover, antibiofilm action was evaluated. Cytotoxicity and proliferation were performed using splenocytes from Balb/c mice and were evaluated by cytometry. We found a list of phenolic compounds among other bioactive compounds in the M. emarginata saline extract. In addition, higher antioxidant profile and antifungal activity against different strains of Candida spp. was promoted by the saline extract. Splenocytes showed greater cell viability (more than 90%) and showed higher proliferate index in 24 and 48 hours of incubation with the extract. Saline extract from Malpighia emarginata DC has potential action like antioxidant and antifungal agent without promote animal cell damage.

Immunomodulatory Effects of the Water-soluble Lectin from Moringa oleifera Seeds (WSMoL) on Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMC).

BACKGROUND: Moringa oleifera is used in traditional medicine as well as in food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries. Water-soluble M. oleifera lectin (WSMoL) is an anionic protein isolated from the seeds of this tree. Until now, immune responses promoted by this lectin in human PBMC have not been investigated. OBJECTIVE: The main objective of this study was to investigate the immunomodulatory effects of WSMoL on human PBMC through measurement of lymphocytes subsets, cytokine and nitric oxide levels. METHODS: Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were isolated through Ficoll technique, were incubated with WSMoL (10 µg/mL) for 24, 48 and 72 hours, and was performed immunophenotyping assay of lymphocytes and monocytes. Culture supernatants were used to determined cytokine and nitric oxide levels. Assays with cells subsets and cytokine production were performed through cytometry. Nitric oxide release assay was determinate by spectrophotometry. RESULTS: WSMoL induced the release of the cytokines TNF-α, IL-2, IL-6, IL-10 as well as nitric oxide. Incubation of PBMC with this lectin also led to activation of CD8+ T lymphocytes. CONCLUSION: WSMoL promotes immunomodulation in human PBMC inducing a potential wound healing profile and, in future in vivo assays, can be evaluated as adjuvant in immunosuppressive diseases and wound repair.