Anti-hemorrhagic Activity of Four Brazilian Vegetable Species Against Bothrops jararaca Venom

Abstract

Around 20,000 snakebites are reported annually in Brazil and 90% of them are inflicted by species of the genus Bothrops. Intravenous administration of antibothropic antivenom neutralizes the systemic actions, but it is of little effect on the reversal of local symptoms and often induces adverse reactions, a context that drives the search for complementary treatments for snakebite accidents. Vegetable extracts with a range of antiophidian activities constitute an excellent alternative. In this study, we investigated the anti-hemorrhagic effects of Mouriri pusa Gardn. (Melastomataceae), Byrsonima crassa Niedenzu (Malpighiaceae), Davilla elliptica St. Hill. (Dilleniaceae) and Strychnos pseudoquina St. Hil. (Loganiaceae) against Bothrops jararaca venom. The methanolic extracts from M. pusa (leaves), B. crassa (leaves) and D. elliptica (leaves) showed total neutralization capacity against local hemorrhages. The amenthoflavone and quercetin fractions from B. crassa and the flavonoids fractions (quercetin and myricetin) from M. pusa and D. elliptica also showed total neutralization capacity. We conclude that flavonoids derived from myricetin, quercetin and amenthoflavone play an important role in the anti-hemorrhagic potential of these Brazilian vegetables species against B. jararaca venom.

Anti-hemolytic and Anti-cytotoxic Effect of Two Artemisia Species (A. campestris and A. herba-alba) Essential Oil against Snake Venom

“…Studies focused in some species to investigate and isolate the bioactive compounds from different part of the plant. The extracts from different parts of the plants belonging to the Asteraceae family showed an antihemorrhagic, antiproteolytic, anti-phospholipase (Abid et al, 2007;Mariane et al, 2011), antilethality (Shirwaikar et al, 2004;Pithayanukul et al, 2009), antiedema, (Ticli et al, 2005;Nishijima et al, 2009), antinecrosis (Bjarnason et al, 1978;Houghton et al, 1992;Chareanchai et al, 2009;Soares et al, 2005), anti-myotoxicity (Theakston and Reid, 1992;Bjarnason and Fox, 1994;Soares et al, 2004) and anticoagulant effect (Bjarnason and Tu, 1978;Bjarnason and Fox, 1994). Our results have some similarities with those research investigations.…”

Aspectos químicos e farmacológicos de Byrsonima (Malpighiaceae)

“…62 Outras misturas de triterpenos bem conhecidos foram obtidas das folhas de B. crassa A maior parte dos estudos não teve continuidade ou ainda não se conhece o metabólito responsável pela atividade apresentada. Apenas cinco trabalhos apresentados nesta revisão investigaram as atividades biológicas de compostos isolados das espécies, 14,15,18,20,22,39 detendo-se, a maioria, em avaliar atividades farmacológicas de extratos brutos, predominando a investigação de extratos polares das folhas, com destaque para extratos metanólicos.…”

<I>IN VIVO</I> NEUTRALIZATION OF <I>NAJA NIGRICOLLIS</I> VENOM BY <I>UVARIA CHAMAE</I>

“…However, in most cases, scientific evidence of their antiophidian activity is still needed. The exact mechanisms of action of ;the plant extracts remain largely illusive, however, a number of previous reports indicate that plant-derived compounds, such as rosmarinic acid Aang et al, 2010) quercetin (Nishijima et al, 2009) and glycyrrhizin (Assafim et al, 2006) can inhibit biological activities of some snake venoms invivo and invitro.…”