Dionatas Ulises de Oliveira Meneguetti1,2,3, Renato Abreu Lima3,4,5, Fernanda Bay Hurtado3,6, Guilherme Matos Passarini1,3, Sharon Rose Aragão Macedo1,7, Neuza Biguinati de Barros4,7, Flávio Augusto de Souza Oliveira1,3,8, Patrícia Soares de Maria de Medeiros9, Júlio Sancho Linhares Teixeira Militão3,10, Roberto Nicolete1,4,7, Valdir Alves Facundo1,3,4,10. 1. Programa de Pós Graduação em Biologia Experimental, Universidade Federal de Rondônia, Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil. 2. Laboratório de Fisiofarmacologia, Colégio de Aplicação, Universidade Federal do Acre, Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil. 3. Laboratório de Química de Produtos Naturais, Universidade Federal de Rondônia, Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil. 4. Programa de Pós Graduação em Biodiversidade e Biotecnologia da Amazônia Legal, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. 5. Instituto de Natureza e Cultura, Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Benjamin Constant, Amazonas, Brazil. 6. Departamento de Engenharia de Pesca e Aquicultura, Universidade Federal de Rondônia, Presidente Médici, Rondônia, Brazil. 7. Laboratório de Biotecnologia Aplicada à Saúde, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz de Rondônia, Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil. 8. Laboratório de Quimioterapia da Malária, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz de Rondônia, Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil. 9. Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Rondônia,Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil. 10. Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal de Rondônia, Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Maytenus guianensis is a member of the Celastraceae family that is used in traditional medicine, particularly for its anti-parasitic and anti-cancer effects. To explore the ethnopharmacological potential of this plant, the present study was designed to screen the in vitro antileishmanial activities of extracts and compounds isolated from M. guianensis. METHODS: Maytenus guianensis stems and leaves were extracted in acetone, followed by the preparation of eluates and isolation of secondary metabolites using chromatography on a glass column with silica gel as the fixed phase. The chemical components were identified using spectroscopic methods, including one- and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance of hydrogen-1 and carbon-13, mass spectroscopy, and infrared spectroscopy. The anti-Leishmania amazonensis activities of these eluates and compounds were evaluated by direct promastigote counting and viability assays. RESULTS: It was found that the hexane bark eluate produced the strongest anti-L. amazonensis effect, with 90-100% inhibition of the promastigote form. The isolated metabolite that produced the best result was tingenone B, followed by a compound formed by the union of tingenone and tingenone B (80-90% inhibition). CONCLUSIONS: Maytenus guianensis shows anti-parasite activity that warrants further investigation to determine the mechanisms underlying this antileishmanial effect and to evaluate the pharmacological potential of these eluates and isolated secondary metabolites, while minimizing any adverse effects.
INTRODUCTION: Maytenus guianensis is a member of the Celastraceae family that is used in traditional medicine, particularly for its anti-parasitic and anti-cancer effects. To explore the ethnopharmacological potential of this plant, the present study was designed to screen the in vitro antileishmanial activities of extracts and compounds isolated from M. guianensis. METHODS: Maytenus guianensis stems and leaves were extracted in acetone, followed by the preparation of eluates and isolation of secondary metabolites using chromatography on a glass column with silica gel as the fixed phase. The chemical components were identified using spectroscopic methods, including one- and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance of hydrogen-1 and carbon-13, mass spectroscopy, and infrared spectroscopy. The anti-Leishmania amazonensis activities of these eluates and compounds were evaluated by direct promastigote counting and viability assays. RESULTS: It was found that the hexane bark eluate produced the strongest anti-L. amazonensis effect, with 90-100% inhibition of the promastigote form. The isolated metabolite that produced the best result was tingenone B, followed by a compound formed by the union of tingenone and tingenone B (80-90% inhibition). CONCLUSIONS: Maytenus guianensis shows anti-parasite activity that warrants further investigation to determine the mechanisms underlying this antileishmanial effect and to evaluate the pharmacological potential of these eluates and isolated secondary metabolites, while minimizing any adverse effects.