Plants are promising sources of new bioactive compounds. The aim of this study was to investigate the cytotoxic potential of nine plants found in Brazil. The species studied were: Annona pickelii Diels (Annonaceae), Annona salzmannii A. DC. (Annonaceae), Guatteria blepharophylla Mart. (Annonaceae), Guatteria hispida (R. E. Fr.) Erkens & Maas (Annonaceae), Hancornia speciosa Gomes (Apocynaceae), Jatropha curcas L. (Euphorbiaceae), Kielmeyera rugosa Choisy (Clusiaceae), Lippia gracilis Schauer (Verbenaceae), and Hyptis calida Mart. Ex Benth (Lamiaceae). Different types of extractions from several parts of plants resulted in 43 extracts. Their cytotoxicity was tested against HCT-8 (colon carcinoma), MDA-MB-435 (melanoma), SF-295 (glioblastoma), and HL-60 (promielocitic leukemia) human tumor cell lines, using the thiazolyl blue test (MTT) assay. The active extracts were those obtained from G. blepharophylla, G. hispida, J. curcas, K. rugosa, and L. gracilis. In addition, seven compounds isolated from the active extracts were tested; among them, β-pinene found in G. hispida and one coumarin isolated from K. rugora showed weak cytotoxic activity. In summary, this manuscript contributes to the understanding of the potentialities of Brazilian plants as sources of new anticancer drugs.
The classification of traumatic dental injuries can involve teeth, supporting structures, or gingival and oral mucosa. The therapeutic use of lasers has become standard practice in many medical fields, but dental traumatology is not yet one of them. This case report relates dental trauma of a 36-month-old girl referred to the Dental Trauma Center for Children and Adolescents in a University dental clinic (Brazil). Her fall down the stairs at home resulted in face trauma, avulsion of a primary incisor and soft tissue injuries. The mother reported pain and inflammation of the lacerated lip. After examination, a low-level laser was applied to ulcerated lip and gingival tissues. The protocol was punctual and continuous application at 660nm, 1J/point every 48 hours. The low-level laser biomodulation capacity provided complete tissue healing after 14 days of sessions. Clinical trials are suggested. Conservative treatment in this case of severe soft-tissue injuries into a baby showed a clinically satisfactory result. Minimal intervention was also important to minimize possible psychological side effects of surgical dental therapy. Low-level lasers are an excellent alternative therapy for children, because of their analgesic/anti-inflammatory and biomodulatory effects.
The plant Kielmeyera rugosa Choisy (family Calophyllaceae), popularly known as 'pau-santo', is traditionally used in Brazilian folk medicine. Recently, the dichloromethane extract-dichloromethane partition from stems of K. rugosa (KR) has shown positive results in our cytotoxic screening programme. Therefore, the aim of this study was to validate the antitumour activity of KR on sarcoma 180 tumour-bearing mice. KR showed antitumour activity with both administration routes: intraperitoneal (50 and 100 mg/kg/day) and oral (100 and 200 mg/kg/day). Tumour growth inhibition rates were 40.8-34.9% and 25.4-51.8% after intraperitoneal and oral administrations, respectively. Treatment with KR did not significantly affect body mass, macroscopy of the organs or blood leukocyte counts. In conclusion, KR exhibited an in vivo antitumour effect without substantial toxicity.
The present study examined the anti‐hypernociceptive effect of the methanolic extract of stems of Kielmeyera rugosa (MEKR) in mice. For assess this effect were realized models of mechanic hypernociception induced by carrageenan (CG) and substances which mediate the various reactions involved CG, such as TNF‐α, prostaglandin (PGE2) and dopamine (DA). The mice were pretreated with vehicle (saline + Tween 80 0.2%; p.o.) or MEKR (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg, p.o.). Thirty minutes after the treatments, were injected in region subplantar of the rear right paw: 20 μL of CG (300 μg/paw), PGE2 (100 ng/paw), DA (30 μg/paw) or TNF‐α (100 pg/paw). The hypernociception was assessed in times of 0.5, 1, 2 and 3 hours after the injection of CG, TNF‐α, PGE2 and DA, with digital Von Frey. It was observed that MEKR was able to maintain the baseline nociceptive threshold in all tests. The results suggest anti‐hypernociceptive property of MEKR, probably by a mechanism inhibition of production of cytokines, which activate various reactions connected with inflammation, reducing thereby hipernociception.Financial support: FAPITEC/SE, CAPES, CNPq (Brazil).
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