title: Evaluation of gastroprotective activity of Plinia edulis (Vell.) Sobral (Myrtaceae) leaves in rats.
abstract: Plinia edulis, an arboreous species popularly known as "cambucá", is native to the Brazilian Atlantic Rain Forest. Despite its traditional uses, no reports are available on the safety of this utilization or on the relationship between the antiulcer activity of its extract and its phytochemical compounds. This paper reports on the investigation of the acute toxicity and gastroprotective effect of the aqueous ethanol extract of leaves of Plinia edulis on HCl/ethanol-induced ulcers. In order to correlate the secondary metabolites and the efficacy of the crude drug in traditional medicine, the extract was submitted to chromatographic fractionation after solvent partition. The extract did not show acute toxicity in mice treated with 5 g/kg p.o., but exhibited significant antiulcer activity in rats at doses of 100, 200, and 400mg/kg p.o., more active than the reference drug lansoprazole.The ethyl acetate fraction yielded beta-amyrin, oleanolic acid, ursolic acid, and maslinic acid, which were identified based on spectrometric analyses. Since antiulcerogenic activity is not restricted to one class of compounds in plants, the triterpenoids isolated in the extract can be associated with the observed effect.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Farmácia, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Universidade de São Paulo, CP 66083, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Tati
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.forename: Raquel dos Santos
authors.initials: Rdos S
authors.lastname: Donatini
authors.forename: Ingrit Elida Collantes
authors.initials: IE
authors.lastname: Diaz
authors.forename: Massayoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Elfriede Marianne
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Bacchi
authors.forename: Edna Tomiko Myiake
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Kato
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000897:Anti-Ulcer Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001938:Brazil; D005260:Female; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000187:drug effects*; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D027822:Myrtaceae / Q000737:chemistry; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D014315:Triterpenes / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000897:Anti-Ulcer Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts; D014315:Triterpenes