ABSTRACT
This paper describes the screening of different South American plant extracts and fractions. Aqueous and organic extracts were prepared and tested for antiherpetic (HSV-1, KOS and 29R strains) and antirabies (PV strain) activities. The evaluation of the potential antiviral activity of these extracts was performed by using an MTT assay for HSV-1, and by a viral cytopathic effect (CPE) inhibitory method for rabies virus (RV). The results were expressed as 50% cytotoxicity (CC(50)) for MTT assay and 50% effective (EC(50)) concentrations for CPE, and with them it was possible to calculate the selectivity indices (SI = CC(50)/EC(50)) of each tested material. From the 18 extracts/fractions tested, six extracts and four fractions showed antiviral action. Ilex paraguariensis, Lafoensia pacari, Passiflora edulis, Rubus imperialis and Slonea guianensis showed values of SI > 7 against HSV-1 KOS and 29-R strains and Alamanda schottii showed a SI of 5.6 against RV, PV strain.
Subject(s)
Antiviral Agents/pharmacology , Herpesvirus 1, Human/drug effects , Plant Extracts/pharmacology , Plants/chemistry , Rabies virus/drug effects , Antiviral Agents/chemistry , Antiviral Agents/isolation & purification , Microbial Sensitivity Tests , Plant Extracts/chemistry , Plant Extracts/isolation & purification , South AmericaABSTRACT
This work describes the seasonal variation of curcumenol (1) and dihydrocurdione (2), two active terpenoids from different parts (roots, mother rhizome and rugous rhizome) of Curcuma zedoaria grown in Brazil. The analysis was carried out by high resolution gas chromatography, using external standards for determination. The results showed that both terpenoids are present in all the parts studied. However, C. zedoaria exhibited about three times more terpenoids in the mother rhizome in autumn than in other parts and seasons studied. The antinociceptive activity of the dichloromethane extracts from different parts and collected in different seasons was studied using the acetic acid-induced abdominal constriction model in mice. The extracts obtained from mother rhizome collected in autumn and winter at doses of 10 mg/kg body weight, i.p., caused considerable antinociceptive activity inhibiting 91.1 and 93.4% of the abdominal constrictions, respectively, whereas compounds 1 and 2 caused inhibitions of 64.0 and 46.0%, respectively. These results confirm that both compounds contribute to explain the antinociceptive effect of the plant but suggest that other compounds are also acting as analgesics.
Subject(s)
Analgesics/isolation & purification , Curcuma/chemistry , Plant Extracts/chemistry , Acetic Acid/administration & dosage , Acetic Acid/toxicity , Animals , Brazil , Chromatography, Gas , Colic/chemically induced , Colic/prevention & control , Female , Injections, Intraperitoneal , Male , Mice , Phytotherapy , Plant Extracts/isolation & purification , Plant Roots/chemistry , Rhizome/chemistry , Seasons , Sesquiterpenes/isolation & purification , Sesquiterpenes/therapeutic useABSTRACT
Opportunistic infections caused by yeasts have been characterized as emerging diseases all over the world and this has caused the search for new products capable of inhibiting the survival of their etiological agents. In this study the sensitivity of some yeast potentially causing infections to `alpha´-pinene, ß-pinene, citral and engenol was avaluated. All phytochemicals showed inhibitory action on the assayed yeast strains: Candida, albicans, C. tropicalis, C. guilliermondïi, C. stellatoidea, C. krusei, C. parapsilosis and Cryptococcus neoformans, presenting their MIC values in the range of 1 and 4 por cento The phytochemicals presented effectiveness to provide high fungicide effect in a short time. These data support the possible use of some phytochemicals as useful tools to control the occurrence of opportunistic infections caused by yeasts
