Biella Carla de Agostino, Salvador Marcos José, Dias Diones Aparecida, Dias-Baruffi Marcelo, Pereira-Crott Luciana Simon
Departamento de Análises Clínicas, Toxicológicas e Bromatológicas, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. do Café s/n, 14040-903 Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brasil.
Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz. 2008 Sep;103(6):569-77. doi: 10.1590/s0074-02762008000600010.
Alternanthera tenella Colla extracts are used in Brazilian traditional folk medicine to treat a variety of infectious diseases as well as inflammation and fever. In this work, the immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory and potential toxic effects of cold (CAE) and hot (HAE) aqueous extracts of A. tenella were investigated in vivo. In addition, we analyzed the phytochemical properties of both extracts. BALB/c mice were immunized in vivo with sheep red blood cells and concomitantly inoculated intraperitoneally (i.p.) with each extract (50, 100 or 200 mg/kg). Specific antibody-producing cells were enumerated using plaque-forming cell assays (PFC) and anti-SRBC IgG and IgM serum levels were measured via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Body and lymphoid organ weights were determined after treatments in order to evaluate toxic effects. Carrageenan-induced paw edema was employed to investigate anti-inflammatory activity in mice inoculated i.p. with CAE or HAE (200 or 400 mg/kg). Phytochemical screening was performed using spectrometric and chromatographic approaches and revealed that CAE possessed higher tannin and flavonoid levels than HAE. PFC numbers were increased after treatment with CAE (100 mg/kg) four days after immunization, as were the serum antibody titers after four and seven days, suggesting immunostimulatory activity through modulation of B lymphocyte functions. Body and organ weights did not show major changes, suggesting that extracts administered to mice did not induce significant toxicity. Both extracts had significant anti-inflammatory activity in the paw edema assay. These results suggested that aqueous extracts from A. tenella contained several chemical compounds that possess positive and/or negative modulator effects on the immune system, which appeared to correlate with tannin and flavonoid levels in those extracts. In summary, these studies provide important insight into the biological activities of A. tenella.
小叶虾钳菜提取物在巴西传统民间医学中用于治疗多种传染病以及炎症和发烧。在这项研究中，对小叶虾钳菜的冷（CAE）水提取物和热（HAE）水提取物的免疫调节、抗炎和潜在毒性作用进行了体内研究。此外，我们分析了两种提取物的植物化学性质。用绵羊红细胞对BALB/c小鼠进行体内免疫，并同时腹腔注射（i.p.）每种提取物（50、100或200mg/kg）。使用空斑形成细胞试验（PFC）计数特异性抗体产生细胞，并通过酶联免疫吸附测定法测量抗SRBC IgG和IgM血清水平。处理后测定体重和淋巴器官重量以评估毒性作用。采用角叉菜胶诱导的爪肿胀来研究腹腔注射CAE或HAE（200或400mg/kg）的小鼠的抗炎活性。使用光谱和色谱方法进行植物化学筛选，结果显示CAE的单宁和类黄酮含量高于HAE。免疫后四天用CAE（100mg/kg）处理后PFC数量增加，免疫后四天和七天血清抗体滴度也增加，表明通过调节B淋巴细胞功能具有免疫刺激活性。体重和器官重量没有显示出重大变化，表明给予小鼠的提取物没有诱导明显的毒性。两种提取物在爪肿胀试验中均具有显著的抗炎活性。这些结果表明，小叶虾钳菜的水提取物含有几种对免疫系统具有正向和/或负向调节作用的化合物，这似乎与这些提取物中的单宁和类黄酮含量相关。总之，这些研究为小叶虾钳菜的生物活性提供了重要的见解。
