In Vivo Effects of Cagaita (Eugenia dysenterica, DC.) Leaf Extracts on Diarrhea Treatment

Abstract

Eugenia dysenterica is a plant typically found in the Cerrado biome and commonly used in popular medicine due to its pharmacological properties, which include antidiarrheal, skin healing, and antimicrobial activities. The effects of ethanolic extract, aqueous extract and infusion of E. dysenterica leaves on intestinal motility and antidiarrheal activity were evaluated using ricin oil-induced diarrhea in rats. At doses of 400 and 800 mg·Kg−1, the ethanolic extract decreased intestinal motility while the other extracts showed no significant effects. Moreover, serum levels of chloride, magnesium, and phosphorus were also measured in rats. Histopathologic and enzymatic analyses were also performed to investigate any toxic effect. Animals treated with infusion, ethanolic extract, ricin oil, and loperamide presented morphological alterations in the small intestine, such as mucosa lesion, epithelial layer damage, and partial loss and/or morphological change of villi. Furthermore, the liver showed congestion and hydropic degeneration. Serum levels of alanine aminotransferase increased significantly in all treatments, but none rose above reference values. In summary, our results suggest that compounds present in leaves of E. dysenterica may have therapeutic benefits on recovery from diarrhea despite their toxic effects.

Eugenia dysentericaDC. (Myrtaceae) exerts chemopreventive effects against hexavalent chromium-induced damagein vitroandin vivo

“…Additional, EDE also reduced renal and liver histopathological damage caused by Cr(VI), although areas with hydropic degeneration could still be seen in the liver. However, it was a reversible alteration possibly generated by the extract, as already reported by Lima et al (2011).…”

“…(Myrtaceae), popularly known as cagaita or cagaiteira, is a polyphenol rich-plant from the Cerrado, a Brazilian savannah biome (Almeida et al 1998). As a medicine, the leaves are traditionally used for the treatment of diarrhoea and dysentery but, in contrast, the fruits have laxative property (Almeida et al 1998;Lima et al 2010Lima et al , 2011. As a food, the cagaita fruit has a high pulp yield with reduced energy value and is a source of folates, carotenoids, vitamins A and C (Cardoso et al 2011), quercetin, kaempferol and acid ellagic (Gonçalves et al 2010).…”

Clavanin A Improves Outcome of Complications from Different Bacterial Infections

“…Serial dilutions of the homogenates were plated in triplicate on mannitol salt agar (Himedia, India), and the results were expressed as CFU g Ϫ1 of tissue (17,24). The other half of the wounded tissue was stored for histological analysis as described previously by Lima and coworkers (25).…”

Phenolic compounds from cagaita (Eugenia dysenterica DC.) fruit prevent body weight and fat mass gain induced by a high-fat, high-sucrose diet

“…The cagaita fruit is a yellow-orange roughly spherical berry with a diameter of approximately 3-4 cm and mass varying between 15 and 37 g that has a sweet-sour and slightly astringent taste (Cardoso, Martino, Moreira, Ribeiro, & Pinheiro-Sant'Ana, 2011;Clovegarden, 2015). The cagaita fruit is used in various regional preparations, such as jams, ice-cream, liqueurs, and juices; whereas both the fruit and the leaves are used as popular alternative medicine by local communities to treat diarrhea, diabetes, and jaundice (Lima et al, 2011). Cagaita is considered to be a source of vitamin C and phenolic compounds, including quercetin, ellagitannins, ellagic acid, and kaempferol (Cardoso et al, 2011;Gonçalves, Lajolo, & Genovese, 2010), which were previously shown to exert important biological functions preventing the development of obesity and type 2 diabetes (Del Rio, Borges, & Crozier, 2010;Scalbert et al, 2005).…”