title: Antimicrobial activity and chemical composition of fixed oil extracted from the body fat of the snake Spilotes pullatus.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Ethnozoological studies have shown that Spilotes pullatus Linn. (Colubridae: Ophidia), is associated with medicinal and magic-religious uses in Brazil.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study was designed to determine the chemical composition of the oil extracted from the body fat of S. pullatus and to test its antimicrobial properties, alone and in association with aminoglycosides, against fungi and bacterial strains in concentrations ranging between 1024 and 0.5 µg/mL.
  
  
  METHODS
  The snakes were collected in the Chapada do Araripe, county of Crato, Ceará State, Brazil. The oil was extracted in a Soxhlet apparatus using hexane. The methyl esters of the fatty acids present in the samples were identified using GC-MS. The antimicrobial and drug modulatory activities of oil were tested by microdilution against fungal and bacterial strains.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The chemical composition of the fixed oils of S. pullatus identified 10 constituents representing 94.97% of the total sample. The percentages of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids were 33.59 and 61.38%, respectively, with the most abundant components being elaidic (37.26%). The oil did not demonstrate any antimicrobial or antifungal activity when tested alone, presenting MIC values ≥ 1024 µg/mL. However, when associated with antibiotics, it demonstrated synergistic effects with gentamicin against all the bacterial lineages assayed, and antagonistic effects with amikacin and neomycin against strains of Escherichia coli.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Oil extracted from the body fat of S. pullatus did not demonstrate any inhibitory effects on bacterial or fungal activities, but was effective in modulating the effects of certain antibiotics.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Regional do Cariri - URCA, Departamento de Qu쬩ca Biológica , Crato, CE , Brazil .
authors.forename: O P
authors.initials: OP
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Sales
authors.forename: D Q
authors.initials: DQ
authors.lastname: Dias
authors.forename: M E S
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Cabral
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Araújo Filho
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Teles
authors.forename: J G G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Sousa
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.forename: F R D
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Freitas
authors.forename: H D M
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Coutinho
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Kerntopf
authors.forename: J G M
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: da Costa
authors.forename: R R N
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Alves
authors.forename: W O
authors.initials: WO
authors.lastname: Almeida
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D017812:Colubridae; D009821:Oils / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D012911:Snakes; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D009821:Oils
keywords: Aminoglycosides; antibiotic; ethnozoology; modulatory antibiotic activity