This study aimed to carry out an ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants used by inhabitants of the Rodeadouro Island, Jatoba Island and Massangano Island, located in The Submedium São Francisco River Valley. Also phytochemicals and preliminary pharmacological tests were performed to species most cited by the community. Ethnobotanical data were collected through observation visits and semi-structured interviews with 12 key informants. We calculated the relative importance (RI), the percentage of agreement related to the main uses (cAMU) and use value (UV). The aerial parts of Rhaphiodon echinus (Ness & Mart.) Schauer were used to obtain the lyophilizate (LYO-Re), crude ethanol extract (CEE-Re) and their hexanic (HEX-Re), chloroform (CLO-Re) and ethyl acetate (EA-Re) fractions. The microdilution technique was used for determining Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for selected microorganisms. Already the spasmolytic effect was evaluated in isolated uterus fragments of Wistar rats, pre contracted with KCl 60 mM. We found 34 species cited, belonging to 22 families. The most plants were grown by locals. There were 51 different diseases, but the main indication was infectious and parasitic diseases. The species R. echinus was the most reported and it was indicated for urinary tract infection and dysmenorrhea. The screening revealed a higher prevalence of flavonoids, tannins, lignans and saponins in LYO-Re and AE-Re. Already terpene compounds were more present in HEX-Re and CLO-Re. The RE-Re fraction stood out with strong effect against E. coli and S. aureus while CEE-Re has moderate effect against gram-negative bacteria. The evaluation of the spasmolytic activity showed that LYO-Re, CEE-Re and HEX-Re fractions have similar activity, with partial effect and concentration-dependent response. This work brought about knowledge and use of medicinal plants by the riparian of the São Francisco River. It also revealed the importance of other methodologies for scientific evidence for the popular use of R. echinus.

Submit your article to this journal Conclusions: Lippia thymoides is a source of natural products of pharmaceutical interest, being necessary additional studies to determine the substances involved in the biological activities.

The monoterpene alcohol (−)‐borneol has many biological effects such as sedative, anti‐inflammatory, analgesic, anti‐nociceptive, antithrombotic and vasorelaxant effects. Our objective in this study was to investigate the mechanism of action of (−)‐borneol and determine its vasorelaxant effect. (−)‐Borneol was tested on isolated aortic rings contracted with PE (10−6 m). This study was performed in the absence or in the presence of endothelium, L‐NAME (100 μm), indomethacin (10 μm), TEA (1 and 10 mm), 4‐AP (1 mm) or glibenclamide (1 mm) to assess the participation of EDRF, nitric oxide, prostanoids and potassium channels on the relaxing effect of (−)‐borneol. In this work, (−)‐borneol induced a relaxant effect in aortic rings, with and without endothelium, in a concentration‐dependent manner. The pharmacological characterization obtained using L‐NAME, indomethacin, TEA, 4‐AP and glibenclamide demonstrates that the effect of (−)‐borneol was modified in the presence of L‐NAME, indomethacin and glibenclamide showing that these signal transduction pathways are involved in the relaxing effect of the monoterpene. (−)‐Borneol has a vasorelaxant effect that depends on the presence of vascular endothelium, with the participation of nitric oxide and prostanoids. Also, (−)‐borneol displayed a direct action on the vascular smooth muscle, greatly dependent on KATP channels.

The relaxant mechanism of LOO on the tracheal smooth muscle possibly involves stimulating of soluble guanylyl cyclase with consequent activation of the voltage-gated and Ca-activated K channels.