title: Antifungal and cytotoxicity activities of the fresh xylem sap of Hymenaea courbaril L. and its major constituent fisetin.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The great potential of plants as Hymenaea courbaril L (jatoba) has not yet been throughly explored scientifically and therefore it is very important to investigate their pharmacological and toxicological activities to establish their real efficacy and safety. This study investigated the cytotoxicity of xylem sap of Hymenaea courbaril L and its bioactivity against the fungi Cryptococcus neoformans species complex and dermatophytes.
  
  
  METHODS
  The fresh xylem sap of H. courbaril was filtered resulting in an insoluble brown color precipitate and was identified as fisetin. In the filtrate was identified the mixture of fisetinediol, fustin, 3-O-methyl-2,3-trans-fustin and taxifolin, which were evaluated by broth microdilution antifungal susceptibility testing against C. neoformans species complex and dermatophytes. The fresh xylem sap and fisetin were screened for cytotoxicity against the 3T3-A31 cells of Balb/c using neutral red uptake (NRU) assay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The fresh xylem sap and the fisetin showed higher in vitro activity than the filtrate. The xylem sap of H. courbaril inhibited the growth of dermatophytes and of C. neoformans with minimal inhibition concentration (MIC) < 256 μg/mL, while the fisetin showed MIC < 128 μg/mL for these fungi. Fisetin showed lower toxicity (IC50 = 158 μg/mL) than the fresh xylem sap (IC50 = 109 μg/mL).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Naturally occurring fisetin can provide excellent starting points for clinical application and can certainly represent a therapeutic potential against fungal infections, because it showed in vitro antifungal activity and low toxicity on animal cells.
authors.forename: Maysa Paula
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: da Costa
authors.forename: Marize Campos Valadares
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Bozinis
authors.forename: Wanessa Machado
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.forename: Carolina Rodrigues
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Alessandro Lopes
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: da Silva
authors.forename: Cecília Maria
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Alves de Oliveira
authors.forename: Lucília
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Orionalda de Fátima Lisboa
authors.initials: Ode F
authors.lastname: Fernandes
authors.forename: Lúcia Kioko Hasimoto
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Patologia Tropical e Saúde Pública, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Rua 235 - s/n - Setor Universitário, CEP: 74605050 Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil. rosario@ufg.br.
authors.forename: Maria do Rosário Rodrigues
authors.initials: Mdo R
authors.lastname: Silva
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003883:Arthrodermataceae / Q000187:drug effects; D002460:Cell Line; D003455:Cryptococcus neoformans / Q000187:drug effects; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D044948:Flavonols; D052597:Hymenaea / Q000737:chemistry*; D051379:Mice; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D052584:Xylem / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D005419:Flavonoids; D044948:Flavonols; C017875:fisetin