Anti-Inflammatory and Analgesic Activities of the Latex Containing Triterpenes from Himatanthus sucuuba

Authors:
  • AMAna de Miranda
    Ana de Miranda
  • CRClaudia Rezende
    Claudia Rezende
  • JNJosiane Neves
    Josiane Neves
  • SPSérgio Parrini
    Sérgio Parrini
  • MPMaria Pinheiro
    Maria Pinheiro
  • MCMilade Cordeiro
    Milade Cordeiro
  • ETEveraldo Tamborini
    Everaldo Tamborini
  • APAngelo Pinto
    Angelo Pinto
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Abstract
Some triterpenes and iridoids were previously isolated from the stem bark of Himatanthus sucuuba. The latex from Himatanthus sucuuba is used in popular amazonian medicine as an anti-inflammatory remedy. Fractions of the latex were pharmacologically evaluated with a view to verify this popular use in the carrageenan-induced rat paw edema and in the acetic acid-induced mouse constriction tests. The hexane fraction inhibited the edema formation by 35.9 % at a dose of 200 mg/kg (p.o.) but no activity was observed at 100 mg/kg (p.o.). The triterpenes present in the hexane fraction were identified as lupeol acetate, α-amyrin and lupeol cinnamates. The fraction containing only cinnamates inhibited the edema and the abdominal constrictions by 50 - 40 % and 57.9 %, respectively, at 100 mg/kg (p.o.). Among all the fractions studied, the fraction containing only cinnamates showed the greatest anti-inflammatory activity which suggests that these compounds were responsible for the previously described activity of the crude extract.