Dereplication of polar extracts from Croton antisyphiliticus Mart. roots and its anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive potential.

Croton antisyphiliticus Mart. is a plant popularly used in folk medicine by traditional communities from Brazilian savannah to treat general inflammation. According to ethnopharmacological data, this specie can be considered a source of biologically active molecules for the development of new drugs. Thereby, this study reports the results of the dereplication approach of C. antisyphiliticus roots extracts and the in vivo evaluation of its potential antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory in albino Swiss mice. Based on HPLC coupled to Q-Exactive Orbitrap Mass Spectrometer and using GNPS, a total of thirteen polyphenolic compounds were noticed, including four compounds that have been reported for the first time in the genus Croton. Ethanolic and aqueous roots extracts demonstrated a dose-dependent inhibition for the number of writes, reduced pain induced by formalin and hyperalgesia induced by carrageenan. These extracts also reduced paw edema, cell migration, and myeloperoxidase activity, with effects similar to indomethacin and dexamethasone drugs.

Musa spp. cultivars as a neutralising source against some toxic activities of Bothrops and Crotalus genus snake venoms.

Accidents involving snakes from Bothrops spp. and Crotalus spp. constitute the most important cause of envenomation in Brazil and Argentina. Musa spp. (banana) have been reported to be used in popular medicine against snakebite by the members of the Canudos Settlement, located in Goiás. In this way, the aim of this work was to evaluate the antivenom effect of the Ouro (AA), Prata (AAB), Prata-anã (AAB) and Figo (ABB) cultivars against in vitro (phospholipase, coagulation and proteolytic) and in vivo (lethality and toxicity) activities caused by the venoms and toxicity (Artemia salina nauplii and Danio rerio embryos) of Musa spp. as well as the annotation of chemical compounds possibly related to these activities. From the in vitro antiophidic tests with the sap, we observed 100% inhibition of the phospholipase and coagulant activities with the cultivars Prata-anã and Figo against the venoms of B. alternatus and C. d. collineatus, B. diporus and B. pauloensis, respectively, and neutralisation of the lethality against the B. diporus venom. It was observed that the cultivars of Musa spp. did not show toxicity against Artemia salina nauplii and Danio rerio embryos. The sap analysis via HPLC-MS/MS allowed the annotation of the 13 compounds: abscisic acid, shikimic acid, citric acid, quinic acid, afzelechin, Glp-hexose, glucose, sucrose, isorhamnetin-3-O-galactoside-6-raminoside, kaempferol-3-glucoside-3-raminoside, myricetin-3-O-rutinoside, procyanidin B1 and rutin. Therefore, it can be seen that Musa spp. is a potential therapeutic agent that can act to neutralise the effects caused by snakebites.

Effects of Acetogenins from Annona coriacea on the in Vitro Reactions of Photosynthesis.

Our search for candidates for photosynthesis inhibitors is allowing us to report the effect of two acetogenins identified in Annona coriacea Mart. leaves, ACG-A and ACG-B, a non-adjacent bis-THF and a mono-THF types, respectively. This is an important class of natural products which presents biological properties such as anticancer, neurotoxic, larvicidal and insecticidal. However, this is only the second report associated to its herbicidal activity. Their mechanisms of action on the light reactions of the photosynthesis were elucidated by polarographic techniques. Compounds inhibited the noncyclic electron transport on basal, phosphorylating, and uncoupled conditions from H2 O to methyl viologen (MV); therefore, they act as Hill reaction inhibitors. Studies on fluorescence of chlorophyll a (ChL a) indicated that they inhibited the acceptor side of PSII between P680 and PQ-pool, exactly as the commercial herbicide DCMU does.