Evaluation of Antifungal Activity of Piper solmsianum C. DC. var. solmsianum (Piperaceae)

Abstract

The incidence of opportunistic fungal infections in immunocompromised patients, such as those undergoing treatment with immunosuppressive drugs, intensive chemotherapy, AIDS patients and neonates, is increasing at an alarming rate. 1,2) These mycoses are very difficult to eradicate, and present an enormous challenge for healthcare providers. 3,4) The diversity of plant species in Brazil, together with their known ethnopharmacological uses, creates enormous potential for finding new structures with antifungal properties. 5,6) The Piperaceae is a vast family of plants, which has been extensively used for medicinal purposes.7) It comprises about 10 genus and approximately 2000 species, most of them herbaceous, 8) which are found mainly in tropical areas. Piper and Peperomia, the two greatest genera of the family, are well-represented in the Brazilian flora. 9)Within the Piperaceae family, the genus Piper has over 700 species, distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Its phytochemistry has been object of extensive reviews. 10,11) With regard to the ethnopharmacological information, while the pungent and aromatic fruits of some species of Piper are used as spices, most of them find wide application in traditional systems of medicine 10,11) as insecticides, 7,[12][13][14] antivirals, 15,16) antimicrobials [17][18][19][20][21] and particularly antifungals. [22][23][24][25][26][27][28] These biological properties have been attributed to the presence of lignans and/or amides, such as alkyl or olefinic isobutylamides, 7,23,29) flavonoids, kawa-lactones, butenolides and cyclohexane epoxides, among others. 10)Among the different species of Piper growing in Brazil, Piper solmsianum (syn. P. leucathum or P. santosanum) known popularly as "pariparoba", is a shrub that measures 1-3 m. There are few reports on the chemical or biological studies of this plant. In contrast, phytochemical studies indicated the presence of aliphatic hydrocarbons, monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, arylpropanoids and neolignans. [30][31][32] Recently, we have demonstrated that the fractions and some pure compounds (lignans) from the leaves of this plant exhibit significant activity against Gram-positive bacteria. 33)The current study extends our previous work on the biological properties of P. solmsianum and describes the in vitro antifungal activity of extracts, fractions and pure compounds against a panel of opportunistic pathogenic fungi using the agar dilution method. MATERIALS AND METHODS Plant MaterialPiper solmsianum C. DC. var. solmsianum (Piperaceae) was collected in May, 2001, in Ponta Grossa, State of Paraná, Brazil, and identified by Dr. Elsie Franklin Guimarães (Rio de Janeiro Botanic Museum Herbarium). A voucher specimen was deposited in the same herbarium under the number RB 368597.Phytochemical Analyses Air-dried leaves (1.36 kg) of P. solmsianum var. solmsianum were cut into small pieces and macerated at room temperature for one week in methanol. After filtration, the solvent was removed by rotary evaporat...

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