ABSTRACT
Hancornia speciosa Gomes is a tree native to Brazil and has therapeutic potential for several diseases. Ethnopharmacological surveys have reported that the plant is used as a hypoglycemic agent and to lose weight. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of the aqueous extract from H. speciosa latex (LxHs) in a zebrafish model of diabetes. The extract was evaluated through high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HTPLC), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). We then tested treatments with LxHs (500, 1000, and 1500 mg/kg) by assessing blood glucose levels in alloxan-induced diabetic animals, and metformin was used as a control. The toxicity was evaluated through histopathology of the pancreas and biochemical assessment of serum levels of AST, ALT, creatinine, and urea. The extract was also assessed for acute toxicity through several parameters in embryos and adult animals. Finally, we performed in silico analysis through the SEA server and docking using the software GOLD. The phytochemical study showed the compounds cornoside, dihydrocornoide, and 1-O-methyl-myoinositol (bornesitol). The treatment with all doses of LxHs significantly decreased alloxan-induced hyperglycemia without any significant histological or biochemical abnormalities. No significant frequency of teratogenesis was observed in the embryos exposed to the extract, and no significant behavioral changes or deaths were observed in adult animals. In silico, the results showed a potential interaction between inositol and enzymes involved in carbohydrates' metabolism. Overall, the results show a hypoglycemic activity of the extract in vivo, with no apparent toxicity. The computational studies suggest this could be at least partially due to the presence of bornesitol, since inositols can interact with carbohydrates' enzymes.
ABSTRACT
Oil in water nano-emulsions are drug delivery systems constituted by liquid lipophilic nano-droplets dispersed through the external aqueous phase, often reaching the kinetic stability with surfactant as stabilizers. Essential oils can be the oily phase or the source of bioactive compounds. In this study, the essential oil of Aeollanthus suaveolens-a plant used in folk medicine due to its psychopharmacological effects-was used for preparation of fine nano-emulsions by a low-energy titrating method. Monodisperse small nano-droplets (ca. 70 nm; PdI 0.200) were assembled by using blends of non-ionic surfactants, indicating modulation on surfactant system lead to altering the physical property. In a separate set of experiments, we investigated the role of this modulation on biological properties of the optimal nano-emulsion. The zebrafish embryos were more susceptible to the nano-emulsion than the bulk essential oil, showing the improved bioactivity due to nano-sizing. Therefore, adult zebrafish was treated, and paralysis was observed in the groups treated with the nano-emulsion, being this finding in accordance with hypnosis. At the same essential oil dose, another behavior was observed, suggesting that expected dose-dependent effects associated to sedative-hypnotics can be achieved by nano-sizing of psychoactive essential oils. This paper contributes to the state-of-art drug delivery systems by opening perspectives for novel sedative-hypnotics nano-emulsified essentials oils that can reach hypnotic effects at considerably lower dose, when compared with bulk materials, being useful for further completed dose-response studies.Graphical abstract.