Anti-hemorrhagic effect of hydro-alcoholic extract of the leaves of Mikania glomerata in lesions induced by Bothrops jararaca venom in rats

To investigate the effects of hydroalcoholic leaf extract of Mikania glomerata Spreng (Asteraceae) on the activity of Bothrops jararaca snake venom in Wistar rats. METHODS: Fifty four rats Wistar were divided into six groups of nine animals in each: control treated with saline; control treated with B. jararaca venom; control treated with M. glomerata extract; B. jararaca venom incubated with M. glomerata extract at proportions of 1:1, 1:2, and 1:4. RESULTS: Histopathological and morphometric analysis showed that intradermal administration of snake venom incubated with the hydroalcoholic extract at proportions of 1:1, 1:2 and 1:4 promoted a significant reduction in the number of inflammatory cells and a marked decrease in edema after the third hour. There was also a significant reduction in the intensity of the hemorrhagic halo in animals receiving the snake venom incubated with the extract, with the observation of a progressive and parallel inhibition with increasing proportion of M. glomerata. CONCLUSION: The Mikania glomerata hydroalcoholic extract exerted effective anti-inflammatory and antihemorrhagic activity against the effects induced by Bothrops jararaca snake venom.

Antiproliferative activity, isolation and identification of active compound from Gaylussacia brasiliensis

Gaylussacia brasiliensis (Spreng.) Meissn., Ericaceae, is used in folk medicine for treatment of several inflammatory processes and as healing agent. The scope of this work was to evaluate the in vitro antiproliferative activity of crude dichloromethane extract (CHD) and to identify the compound(s) responsible for this activity. CHD was evaluated and showed a concentration dependent inhibition on all cells lines. Therefore CHD was submitted to several classical columns chromatography providing the most active fraction (FC), inhibiting all cells line at 25 µg/mL. FC was further fractionated affording isolated compound 2β, 3β-dihydroxy-urs-12-ene-28-oic acid , identified on basis of 2D-NMR experiments and showed concentration-dependent activity and selectivity for kidney and breast cell lines.