Screening of Central and South American plant extracts for antimycobacterial activity by the Alamar Blue test

Abstract

S. G. Leitão wishes to dedicate this work in memory of Prof. Nikolai Sharapin who kindly introduced the author to the CYTED ProgramRESUMO: "Triagem de extratos de plantas das Américas Central e do Sul para atividade antimicobacteriana pelo teste do Alamar Blue". Quarenta e oito extratos brutos etanólicos e frações (em hexano, diclorometano, acetato de etila e n-butanol) de dez plantas brasileiras pertencentes às famílias Leguminosae, Monimiaceae e Verbenaceae; uma da Costa Rica (Verbenaceae) e uma da Argentina (Verbenaceae) foram ensaiados para verifi cação da atividade anti-micobacteriana contra Mycobacterium tuberculosis (ATCC-27294 H 37 Rv), pelo teste do Alamar Blue, a uma concentração fi xa de 100 μg/mL. Dentre os quarenta e oito extratos e frações estudados, sete mostraram-se ativos na concentração ensaiada -frações em hexano e diclorometano de folhas de Lantana trifolia, extrato em metanol:água, 1:1 de cascas de Vitex cooperi, frações em hexano e diclorometano de folhas de Lippia lacunosa e de Lippia rotundifolia, sendo que todas essas plantas pertencem à família Verbenaceae. Unitermos: Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Lantana trifolia, Vitex cooperi, Lippia lacunosa, Lippia rotundifolia, atividade antimicobacteriana, 20-hidroxi-ecdisona.ABSTRACT: Forty eight ethanolic crude extracts and fractions (hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and n-butanol) from ten Brazilian plants (Leguminosae, Monimiaceae and Verbenaceae), 1 from Costa Rica (Verbenaceae) and 1 from Argentina (Verbenaceae) were screened for antimycobacterium activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (ATCC-27294 H 37 Rv), by the Alamar Blue test, at a fi xed concentration of 100 μg/mL. Out of the forty eight, seven were active at this concentration, corresponding to Lantana trifolia (hexane and dichloromethane extracts from leaves), Vitex cooperi (methanol:water, 1:1 extract from barks), Lippia lacunosa (hexane and dichloromethane extracts from leaves) and Lippia rotundifolia (hexane and dichloromethane extracts from leaves), all from the Verbenaceae family.

Urban ethnobotany in Petrópolis and Nova Friburgo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

“…The scientific knowledge about useful plants, particularly the ones for therapeutic use, can in turn potentially improve people's use of these plants and lifestyle, leading to an improvement of the quality of the medicinal products (Funke & Melzig, 2006;Leitão et al, 2006;Barbosa-Filho et al, 2007;Saúde-Guimarães & Faria, 2007;Barbosa-Filho et al, 2008). Furthermore, predatory extraction of medicinal plants has led to the reduction its natural populations (Almeida & Albuquerque, 2002).…”

The antibiotic activity of some Brazilian medicinal plants

“…Indeed, the search for new pharmacologically active agents, through the screening of natural sources such as microbial fermentations and plant extracts, has led to the discovery of many clinically useful drugs that now play major roles in the treatment of human diseases (Yue-Zong, 1998;Leitão et al, 2006;Funke;Melzig 2006). However, whilst Brazilian folk medicine is substantial, our knowledge of the pharmacological activities and chemical compositions of plant extracts used therein is lacking and demands enhanced levels of scientifi c attention from local natural product chemists Barbosa-Filho et al, 2005;BarbosaFilho et al, 2006a;Barbosa-Filho et al, 2006b) The present paper deals with the screening of plants from Brazilian folk medicine for antimicrobial activity.…”

Fingerprint of volatiles from plant extracts based on SPME-GC-MS

“…In spite of the recent development of new synthetic methodologies allowing the combinatorial synthesis of thousands of compounds around a common scaffold, many reviews and books show a plethora of data attesting the potential of natural products as a special source of unique pharmacophores for drug development. (Raskin et al, 2002;Bent and Ko, 2004;Khan et al, 2005;Barbosa-Filho et al, 2005;Amaral et al, 2006;Barbosa-Filho et al, 2006a,b,c;Funke and Melzig, 2006;Leitão et al, 2006;Lima et al, 2006;Julsing et al, 2006;Mayer and Gustafson, 2006;Paul et al, 2006;Floss, 2006;Wilkinson and Bachmann, 2006;Barbosa-Filho et al, 2007;Saúde-Guimarães and Faria, 2007).…”