RESUMO
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Stem barks of Caesalpinia ferrea Mart. Ex Tul. (Caesalpiniaceae), also known as pau-ferro jucá or jucaína, are popularly used to treat contusions, diabetes, rheumatism and other inflammatory conditions in the form of tea, lick or decoction. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of the polysaccharide-rich extract obtained from C. ferrea stem barks (PE-Cf) in mice models of acute inflammation induced by zymosan and the involvement of oxidative stress biomarkers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Mice were treated with PE-Cf (0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1 mg/kg) by endovenous route (i.v.) or per oral (p.o.) 30 or 60 min before injection of the inflammatory stimuli zymosan (0.5 mg; intraperitoneal or subcutaneous intraplantar). The inflammatory parameters (edema, nociception, leukocyte migration) and oxidative stress markers (myeloperoxidase-MPO, malondialdehyde-MDA, nitrite, reduced glutathione-GSH, glutathione peroxidase-GPx) were evaluated in the models of paw edema (hidropletysmometry/expressed as ml or area under curve-AUC) and peritonitis (optical microscopy/expressed as n° of cells/mm3 of peritoneal fluid). Statistical analysis was performed by ANOVA, followed by Bonferroni test. RESULTS: PE-Cf (0.1, 0.01 and 1 mg/kg) dose-dependently inhibited paw edema, showing maximal effect (74%) at 1 mg/kg in the 5th (52 ± 9.6 µl vs. zymosan: 204 ± 3.6 µl). PE-Cf (1 mg/kg) also inhibited by 43% MPO activity in the paw tissues (17 ± 1 vs. zymosan: 30 ± 2.6 U/mg). Besides, 4 h after peritonitis induction, PE-Cf (1 mg/kg) reduced neutrophil migration by 84% (432 ± 45 vs. zymosan: 2651 ± 643 cells/mm3); visceral nociception by 76% (3 ± 0.6 vs. zymosan: 16 ± 4 writhes); nitric oxide by 73% (0.131 ± 0.033 vs. zymosan: 0.578 ± 0.185 NO2-/NO3-ml); MDA (98 ± 10 vs. zymosan:156 ± 21 U/ml), and increased GSH by 65% (736 ± 65 vs. zymosan: 259 ± 58 µmol/ml) and GPx by 72% (0.037 ± 0.007 vs. zymosan: 0.010 ± 0.005 U/mg protein). CONCLUSION: The polysaccharide-rich extract of Caesalpinia ferrea stem barks present anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects in mice models of acute inflammation induced by zymosan.