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Hesperozygis ringens is a plant of the Lamiaceae family which is restricted to the Southern region of Brazil. It is popularly used as an insecticide, but knowledge on it is very scarce. This study aimed to determine the chemical markers of H. ringens extracts obtained via ultrasound-assisted (UAE-EtOH) and supercritical fluid (SFE-CO2) extractions. UAE-EtOH and SFE-CO2 extracts were characterised by UPLC-MS and GC-MS, respectively. Both products had their antioxidant activity, cytotoxicity and genotoxicity evaluated. Twelve compounds were found in the UAE-EtOH extract, including phenolic acids and flavonoids; the SFE-CO2 extract contained terpenes and phytosterols. The UAE-EtOH extract showed a greater antioxidant activity. Neither extract presented cytotoxicity or genotoxicity against human mononuclear blood cells.

The search for herbal innovations with medicinal properties has intensified. As for this matter, the extracts of Piptadenia gonoacantha, present antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive action, as well as absence of proven toxicity. The objective was to evaluate the antibacterial action of formulations containing extracts of Piptadenia gonoacantha. The extract was prepared and characterized by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). This was used for the development of cream, ointment, gel, balm and liquid soaps formulations, being submitted to evaluation, along with the extracts, for antibacterial activity. The characterization of the extract revealed the presence of rutin, ferulic acid, p-coumaric acid, quercitrin, canferol, apigenin and 6-hydroxycoumarin in their constitution. The formulations presented inhibition halos against strains of S. aureus and S. epidermides, with mean efficiency, relative to the positive control, of 47% to 99%. The best results were found for the S. epidermides strain with a mean of 91.5% efficiency in relation to the control. The presence of the metabolites observed in the characterization of the extract justifies the antibacterial action observed in its evaluation, as well as to the formulations. The formulations evaluated have promising antibacterial activity as natural therapeutic alternatives for the treatment of infectious processes.

Food value and safety of a wild macrofungus, Lenzites quercina were investigated. The proximate and mineral composition of raw and fermented L. quercina were assessed using standard methods. Brine shrimp lethality bioassay was adopted for assessment of the toxicological property of the extracts obtained from raw and fermented L. quercina. The result of proximate composition revealed higher protein content (26.15%) in fermented L. quercina, while the value of carbohydrate (38.3%), crude fibre (27.6%), and ash contents (6.5%) were higher (P K> Zn> Fe> Na> Mg> Pb> Cu with values ranging from 4.04 mg/g to 721.6 mg/g. The amino acids in raw and fermented L. quercina ranged from 0.05 mg/g to 23.78 mg/g, while the fatty acids ranged from 0.11% to 38.5%. The mortality rate of the Artemia salina against the extracts was from 8.0% to 38.0% with lethal dose at 50% of population within 49.11 and 250.50 μg/mL. The results from this study revealed that L. quercina possesses essential amino acids, fatty acids, and substantial micro elements, which may be useful in the formulation of functional foods and nutraceuticals.

This study investigated the ability of formulation containing Zingiber officinale (ginger) to reverse health changes promoted by unhealthy diet in Wistar rats. Five compounds from the gingerol family and three from the shogaol family were identified in the chromatographic analyzes of the extract. The animals were fed a combination of unhealthy foods, the cafeteria diet, which promoted increases in body weight, hepatocyte nucleus area, total hepatocyte area and liver fat accumulation, as well as reduced hepatic glutathione S-transferase concentration, compared to the control group, which received commercial chow. The treatment with ginger improved all these results, highlighting the reduction of 10% of body weight and 66% of the total area of lipid droplets deposited, compared to the group that received the cafeteria diet. Ginger treatments also attenuated lipid peroxidation, with a mean reduction of 41% in malondialdehyde levels and a mean increase of 222% in glutathione S-transferase activity in the liver. The cafeteria diet and ginger extract did not promote significant changes in glycemic and lipid profile, liver weight and liver enzymes compared to the control group. We suggest that ginger can have beneficial effects on health complications associated with unhealthy diet, such as excessive adiposity, oxidative stress and hepatic injury.

Five species of angiosperms collected in the Central Region of Rio Grande do Sul was evaluated due to their pharmacological properties. The objective of this study was to extract and characterize the triterpenic content of angiosperm species. The extracts were obtained by ultrasonic extraction using chloroform as solvent. Identification and quantification were performed using high performance liquid chromatography with UV detection (HPLC-UV). The presence of arjunic acid, maslinic acid, oleanolic acid, erythrodiol, uvaol, lupeol, β-amirin, α-amirin, stigmasterol, and β-sitosterol was observed. All species presented β-sitosterol. Polygala pulchella presented the greatest diversity of triterpenic compounds, while Ruellia angustiflora and Moquiniastrum mollissimum the least. Paspalum rawitscheri and Hesperozygis ringens presented the same constituents, differing from each other only quantitatively. Therefore, an overview of the triterpene constitution in species of the central region of the state of RS is presented, along with a review on the pharmacological properties of the investigated compounds. The results obtained in this work are relevant since they stablish an overview of the chemical constitution of the extracts whose biology is still little known. The pharmacological potential of the species can be attributed the identified triterpenic constituents thus supporting the use for medicinal purposes.

In this work, the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of Brassica oleracea var. capitata extracts obtained through ultrasound-assisted extraction are evaluated. The extracts obtained using the best extraction conditions were subjected to different hydrolysis conditions before their use in the biological tests. The crude and hydrolysed extracts were characterized using gas chromatography coupled with a mass detector. The use of ultrasound at 30 °C with 60 % (by volume) solvent enabled obtaining a richer extract. All extracts had antioxidant activities against DPPH (13.0–80.0 %), superoxide (35.2–63.2 %) and peroxyl (89.3–99.5 %) radicals, but the use of hydrolysed extracts considerably improved the antioxidant activities. Antimicrobial activities only of the hydrolysed extracts of Brassica oleracea var. capitata were detected. It was confirmed that antioxidant activity of vegetable extracts can be considerably increased when hydrolysis is applied as a pretreatment to their extraction.

Objectives: To investigate the effects of physical training on the liver morphology and morphometry after chronic use of alcohol in rats. Methods: Twenty-four Wistar rats were housed in cages with controlled environment and randomly divided into four groups according to treatment received. In the initial treatment, alcohol was administered to SA (sedentary alcohol) and EA (exercise alcohol) groups. After four weeks, physical training program was held on a treadmill with EA and EC (exercise control) groups. Area, perimeter, maximum and minimum diameter and form factor of nucleus and cytoplasm of hepatocytes were analyzed. Key findings: Micro-vesicular fatty degeneration, predominantly pericentrolobular, of mild to moderate intensity, was found especially in animals treated with alcohol. EC group showed nucleus area greater than the nucleus area of EA and SA groups. The form factor was lower in the EC group than in the EA group. EA group showed maximum cytoplasm diameter is smaller than in SC (sedentary control) group. Conclusions: Physical training for two weeks was not enough to suppress histopathologic changes in the liver caused by chronic use of alcohol in rats. Chronic use of alcohol seems to have minimized the beneficial effect of physical training in the nucleus area of hepatocytes.

O objetivo do trabalho foi verificar a capacidade dos extratos de abacate, acerola e do flavonoide naringina sobre o perfil sanguineo e verificar se nao alteram os perfis glicemicos e de acido urico de ratos Wistar. Os ratos foram alimentados com racoes hipercolesterolemica ou nao hipercolesterolemica (controle) e os extratos de acerola, abacate e o fitoterapico naringina foram oferecidos aos animais via gavagem. Utilizou-se cinquenta e quatro animais divididos em nove grupos com seis animais cada, sendo um deles nao doente, outro doente nao tratado, e os restantes grupos testes. Apos a eutanasia coletou-se o sangue por puncao cardiaca e centrifugada para a obtencao do soro. Posteriormente realizou-se dosagens de colesterol total, colesterol-HDL, triacilglicerois, glicose, alanina aminotransferase (ALT), aspartato aminotransferase (AST), fosfatase alcalina (FA) e acido urico. Como resultado pode se obervar uma reducao significativa nos teores de colesterol total e nao houve alteracao nos valores de AST, ALT e FA em todos os tratamentos, com excecao do grupo que recebeu 50mg/Kg de extrato de acerola, que tambem foi a unica dose a promover aumento significativo nos teores de HDL. Quanto aos triacilglicerois, somente os extratos de abacate e a menor dose do extrato de acerola promoveram aumento significativo.

This study aimed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive effects of hydroalcoholic extract of P.gonoacantha leaves (EPG). The toxic effect of the EPG was tested against A.salina in order to determine a secure dose for subsequent assays. The antinociception was evaluated using the acetic acid-induced writhing and hot plate tests in Wistar rats. The anti-inflammatory effect of EPG was evaluated by carrageenan-induced paw edema tests in rats. The bioassay with A.salina showed low toxicity of EPG (LC50=1,508mg/L). Oral administration of EPG (50, 100 and 150mg/kg) significantly decreased the number of acetic acid-induced writhes, around 61.3%, 71.8% and 64.9% respectively. However, EPG failed to prolong the latency time in the hot plate test, suggesting that EPG predominantly inhibits peripheral pain mechanisms. The oral administration of EPG at doses of 50 and 100mg/kg significantly inhibited paw edema at 3rd h after the injection of the phlogistic agent by 34.5% and 37.5%, respectively. These data suggest that EPG has both antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities, and these effects may be attributed to inhibition of COX-2 and prostaglandin release.

Este trabalho teve o objetivo de avaliar os aspectos fitoquimicos e antibacteriano de Piptadeniagonoacantha . Primeiramente, realizou-se uma padronizacao dos extratos das folhas de P. gonoacantha e sua caracterizacao fitoquimica foi analisada, onde as principaisvariaveis avaliadas foram: metodo de extracao (maceracao e banho de ultrassom), solvente (agua, alcool e misturas hidroalcoolicas), temperatura de extracao (30, 40 e 50°C) e influencia do pH (2 a 12) sobre o coeficiente de extincao (absorbância) das mesmas. Alem disto, foi realizada uma prospeccao fitoquimica e a quantificacao de polifenois totais na amostra. Umaavaliacao da atividade antibacteriana in vitro foi realizada atraves da adaptacao do metodo de difusao em meio solido com perfuracao do agar frente a Staphylococcus aureus e Escherichia coli . Por meio da avaliacao quimica identificou-se a maneira mais eficiente de promover a extracao dos seus constituintes devendo esta ser realizada por ultrassom, a 40°C, utilizando etanol 80% (v/v). O pH, promoveu modificacoes estruturais (deprotonacao/protonacao) dos constituintes quimicos em extratos com valores de pH acima de 8. Alem disso, a quantificacao de fenois totais indicou que grande proporcao dos extratos e constituida por compostos incluidos nesta classe, sendo confirmada pela prospeccao fitoquimica onde pode ser evidenciada a presenca de flavonoides, taninos, cumarinas e antraquinonas. O extrato desta especie apresentou atividade antibacteriana, especialmente com etanol 80% (v/v), tendo eficiente capacidade de inibir o crescimento da bacteria S. aureus . Os dados obtidos sugerem que a especie P. gonoacantha possui compostos promissores como fonte para obtencao de novos medicamentos no combate a microrganismos resistentes.

The ability of microorganisms, especially bacteria become resistant, has been widely discussed in various publications, and plants are one source to search for new drugs that each day has become more necessary. This work aimed to evaluate different ways of preparing extracts of Brassica oleracea var. capitata and test them fronts strain of Staphylococcus aureus using the test on solid medium by diffusion in agar and in liquid medium in the ELISA plate. Tests revealed that extracts obtained by solvent extraction and decoction hydroalcoholic acid have greater appeal to the search for new drugs with activity against S. aureus, and the latter fractions obtained by liquidliquid partition relating to solvents ethyl acetate, dichloromethane and hydroalcoholic remaining fraction showed more efficient. As for the solid medium, there was a lack of antibacterial activity of hydroalcoholic extract. However, a strong antibacterial activity was observed when analyzed in the same extracts in liquid medium. Ethanolic extracts with concentrations of 50 and 70% showed better results when evaluated for 8 h of incubation. Different results were observed when the period was bent where the concentrations became more expressive of the 70 and 80%. The results demonstrate that the species is a potential source of antibacterial agents. However, the choice of solvent, the extraction method and the bacterial growth medium should be considered. The data shown here motivates further studies for the isolation and identification of the active principles responsible for the antibacterial activity that can be used in the pharmaceutical industry, because of the large number of resistance to existing antibacterial drugs. Key-words: Anti-Bacterial Agents, Plants Medicinal, Medicine Traditional, Phytotherapy, Brassica.