title: Anti-inflammatory activity of animal oils from the Peruvian Amazon.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Animal oils and fats from the fishes Electrophorus electricus and Potamotrygon motoro, the reptiles Boa constrictor, Chelonoidis denticulata (Geochelone denticulata) and Melanosuchus niger and the riverine dolphin Inia geoffrensis are used as anti-inflammatory agents in the Peruvian Amazon. The aim of the study was to assess the topic anti-inflammatory effect of the oils/fats as well as to evaluate its antimicrobial activity and fatty acid composition.
  
  
  METHODS
  The oils/fats were purchased from a traditional store at the Iquitos market of Belen, Peru. The topic anti-inflammatory effect was evaluated by the mice ear edema induced by arachidonic acid (AA) and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) at the dose of 3mg oil/ear. Indomethacine and nimesulide were used as reference anti-inflammatory drugs. The application resembles the traditional topical use of the oils. The antimicrobial effect of the oils/fats was assessed by the microdilution test against reference strains of Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella enteritidis. The fatty acid composition of the oils/fats (as methyl esters) was determined by GC and GC-MS analysis after saponification.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All oils/fats showed topic anti-inflammatory activity, with better effect in the TPA-induced mice ear edema assay. The most active drugs were Potamotrygon motoro, Melanosuchus niger and Geochelone denticulata. In the AA-induced assay, the best activity was found for Potamotrygon motoro and Electrophorus electricus oil. The oil of Electrophorus electricus also showed a weak antimicrobial effect with MIC values of 250 µg/mL against Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Salmonella enteritidis-MI. The main fatty acids in the oils were oleic, palmitic and linoleic acids.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Topical application of all the oils/fats investigated showed anti-inflammatory activity in the mice ear edema assay. The effect can be related with the identity and composition of the fatty acids in the samples. This study gives support to the traditional use of animal oils/fats as ant-inflammatory agents in the Peruvian Amazon. However, new alternative should be encouraged due to the conservation status of several of the animal sources of the crude drugs.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Química de Productos Naturales, Instituto de Química de Recursos Naturales, Universidad de Talca, Casilla 747, 3460000 Talca, Chile. Electronic address: schmeda@utalca.cl.
authors.forename: Guillermo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schmeda-Hirschmann
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Productos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas y Farmacéuticas, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 233, Santiago 1, Chile.
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Delporte
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Productos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas y Farmacéuticas, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 233, Santiago 1, Chile.
authors.forename: Gabriela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Valenzuela-Barra
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Pruebas Biológicas, Instituto de Salud Pública de Chile, Marathon 1000, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Ximena
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Universidad Científica del Peru. Avda. Abelardo Quiñones Km 2.5, Iquitos, Peru.
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vargas-Arana
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biotecnología, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional de San Juan, Av. Libertador General San Martin 1109 (oeste), CP 5400, San Juan, Argentina.
authors.forename: Beatriz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biotecnología, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional de San Juan, Av. Libertador General San Martin 1109 (oeste), CP 5400, San Juan, Argentina.
authors.forename: Gabriela E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Feresin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000891:Anti-Infective Agents, Local; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004289:Dolphins; D020834:Ethnopharmacology; D005223:Fats / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D005399:Fishes; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D008297:Male; D008519:Medicine, Traditional / Q000379:methods*; D051379:Mice; D009821:Oils / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010568:Peru; D061066:Plant Pathology; D012104:Reptiles
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000891:Anti-Infective Agents, Local; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D005223:Fats; D005227:Fatty Acids; D009821:Oils
keywords: Amazonian Peru; Animal oils; Ethnozoology; Geochelone denticulate; Melanosuchus niger; Potamotrygon motoro