Evaluations of the Antimicrobial Activities and Chemical Compositions of Body Fat from the AmphibiansLeptodactylus macrosternumMiranda-Ribeiro (1926) andLeptodactylus vastusAdolf Lutz (1930) in Northeastern Brazil

Abstract

Leptodactylus macrosternum and L. vastus (family: Leptodactylidae) are commonly encountered in the “Caatinga” biome in northern Brazil. The body fat of L. vastus is used as a zootherapeutic for treating a number of human maladies. The aim of this work was to determine the chemical composition of the body fats of L. macrosternum and L. vastus and to evaluate their antimicrobial activities as well as the ecological implications of their use in traditional folk medicine. Oils were extracted from body fat located in the ventral region of L. macrosternum (OLM) and L. vastus (OLV) using hexane as a solvent. The fatty acids were identified by GC-MS. The antimicrobial activities of the oils, either alone or in combination with antibiotics and antifungal drugs, were tested on standard strains of microorganisms as well as on multiresistant strains of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus. OLM contained 40% saturated and 60% unsaturated fatty acids, while OLV contained 58.33% saturated and 41.67% unsaturated fatty acids. Our results indicated that both OLM and OLV demonstrated relevant antimicrobial activities (with MIC 256 μg/mL for both) against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida krusei. However, no antimicrobial effects were observed when these oils were combined with antibiotics or antifungal drugs.

Chemical identification and evaluation of the antimicrobial activity of fixed oil extracted fromRhinella jimi

“…RT (min) (%) Earlier research, as well as the results of the present study, established that unsaturated fatty acids compose the bulk of animal fat (Cabral et al, 2013;Ferreira et al, 2009bFerreira et al, , 2011McCue, 2008), and our results also corroborated these previous research papers in terms of the notable presence of oleic, linoleic, palmitic, and stearic acids.…”

Antimicrobial activity and chemical composition of fixed oil extracted from the body fat of the snakeSpilotes pullatus

“…Research with Phrynops geoffroanus perfomed by Dias et al (2013) indicates that the oil did not demonstrate clinical efficacy against the bacterial strains alone; however, a MIC ¼ 128 mg/mL was observed against C. krusei. When the oil was associated with antibiotics, the oil from P. geoffroanus presented a similar behavior with the oil of S. pullatus, demonstrating a synergism against P. aeruginosa when associated with gentamin.…”

“…Due this fact, zootherapeutic products can be effective in treating human illnesses directly, or in association with synthetic antibiotics -to amplify their action spectrum and minimize undesirable side effects (Gibbons, 2004;Gurib-Fakim, 2006;Salvat et al, 2001;Shin & Pyun, 2004;Sousa et al, 2010). With this objective, several studies using the body fat of animals, as demonstrated in the work of Dias et al (2013), Cabral et al (2013), Ferreira et al (2011, 2009), and Falodun et al (2008.…”

Animals and Human Health

“…Of the 150 prescription drugs currently in use in the United States of America, 27 have animal origin (World Resources Institute, 2000). Although the potential of faunal biodiversity is well known, a Thammasirirak et al (2006) Amyda cartilaginea (Boddaert, 1770) Antibacterial Thammasirirak et al (2006) Chelonia mydas (Linnaeus, 1758) Antibacterial Thammasirirak et al (2006) Nasutitermes corniger (Motschulsky, 1855) Modulation of the antibiotic activity Coutinho et al (2009Coutinho et al ( , 2010 and Chaves et al (2014) Atta sexdens rubropilosa (Forel, 1908) Antifungal Masaro et al (2001) Squalus acanthias (Linnaeus, 1758) Antibacterial Donia and Hamann (2003) Leptodactylus macrosternum (Miranda-Ribeiro, 1926) Antibacterial Cabral et al (2013) Leptodactylus vastus (Adolf Lutz, 1930) Antibacterial Cabral et al (2013) Pseudocanthotermes spiniger Antibacterial and antifungal Lamberty et al (2001) Gallus gallus domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) Modulation of the antibiotic activity Coutinho et al (2014) Rhinella jimi (Stevaux, 2002) Modulation of the antibiotic activity Sales et al (2015) Rhynocoris marginatus (Fabricius, 1794) Antibacterial Sahayaraj et al (2006) Catamirus brevipennis (Servile) Antibacterial Sahayaraj et al (2006) Tropidurus hispidus (Spix, 1825) Modulation of the antibiotic activity; antiinflammatory Santos et al (2012Santos et al ( , 2015 Tropidurus Naja atra (Cantor, 1842) Antiinflammatory Zhu et al (2016) careful strategy is required if species are to be exploited sustainably. One of the main conservation concerns about the exploitation of fauna in the search for bioactive compounds is the possible overharvesting of target organisms (Alves and Albuquerque, 2013).…”