Heteropterys cotinifolia: A Neuropharmacological and Phytochemical Approach with Possible Taxonomic Implications

Abstract

Heteropterys cotinifolia (Malpighiaceae) has been used in traditional Mexican medicine mainly for the treatment of nervous disorders. However, the specific neuropharmacological activities responsible for this use remain to be defined. The present study evaluates the antidepressant and anxiolytic effects produced by the methanolic extract of Heteropterys cotinifolia and the influence of such effects on motor activity in ICR mice. Our results show that the methanolic extract of Heteropterys cotinifolia produces a dose-dependent antidepressant effect in the forced swimming test in mice at doses from 31 to 310 mg/kg, with no reduction of mice locomotion. However, no anxiolytic properties were observed. Our findings suggest that the main extract compounds identified as chlorogenic acid and rutin may be involved in the antidepressant effects. To our knowledge, the present study constitutes the first report of pharmacological and phytochemical data of Heteropterys cotinifolia. The presence of flavonoids in the methanolic extract of Heteropterys cotinifolia may also provide further data to characterize taxonomically this species in order to be distinguished from others species closely related and belonging to the same genus.

Heteropterys Genus: A Review of its Phytochemistry and Pharmacology

“…The majority of the pharmacological literature reviewed here, showed that the neuroproperties are the bioactivities most studied in species from Heteropterys genus, following by antioxidant properties. Interestingly, mostly of these investigations that evaluated CNS activities comprise standardized extracts that partially reveal the chemical composition of the active extract: methanolic extract with presence of chlorogenic acid, chlorogenic acid methyl ester, and triterpene-type compounds in the case of H. brachiata for example (Huerta-Reyes et al, 2013a). In contrast, curiously the investigations that reveal the characterization of pure compounds obtained from extracts of the species of Heteropterys genus did not examined properties related with CNS but focused on other biological activities, such as antifungal, antimicrobial or antiviral (Junior et al, 2005;Melo et al, 2008).…”

Effects of the total flavonoid extract of Xiaobuxin-Tang on depression-like behavior induced by lipopolysaccharide and proinflammatory cytokine levels in mice

“…It has been well documented that Hypericum perforatum, a "modern" herbal antidepressant, exerts extensive anti-inflammatory activities including the inhibitory activity on TNF-α, IL-1β, and LPS-induced prostaglandin E2 (Huang et al, 2011;Hammer and Birt, 2014). Recently, there is significant attention focused on the antidepressant-like effect of flavonoids extracted from herb medicines (González-Cortazar et al, 2013;Huerta-Reyes et al, 2013;Lv et al, 2014;Roohbakhsh et al, 2014;Reis et al, 2014), and it is notable that anti-inflammatory effect is also one of the primary biological activities of flavonoids (Tuñón et al, 2009;Shalini et al, 2012). Therefore, we may speculate that the anti-inflammatory effect of these herbs is possibly related to their antidepressant-like effect.…”