1. Antihyperglycemic effect of Passiflora glandulosa cav. fruit rinds flour in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice
Erlândia Alves Magalhães QUEIROZ ; Raquel Teixeira Terceiro PAIM ; Sandra Machado LIRA ; José Ytalo Gomes DA SILVA ; Carla Laíne Silva LIMA ; Marcelo Oliveira HOLANDA ; Stephen Rathinaraj BENJAMIN ; Maria Izabel Florindo GUEDES ; Ícaro Gusmão Pinto VIEIRA
Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine 2018;11(9):510-517
Objective: To investigate the effect of administration of Passiflora glandulosa (P. glandulosa) fruit rinds flour on streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic mice. Methods: The preliminary phytochemical screening and parameters such as centesimal composition and brine shrimp toxicity were evaluated. For in vivo study Swiss female mice were divided into four groups: NC-normal control; DC-diabetic control animals receiving saline; MET-diabetic animals receiving metformin (200 mg/kg); PFRF-diabetic animals receiving P. glandulosa fruit rinds flour (200 mg/kg). All of them were treated for 28 d. STZ was used in a single dose of 120 mg/kg to establish diabetic models. Body weight, water and food intake, fasting blood glucose were measured. Histopathological analysis of pancreas and liver were performed to evaluate STZ-induced tissue injuries. Results: Phytochemical screening showed the presence of flavanones and triterpenoids. The P. glandulosa fruit rinds flour was non-toxic by the brine shrimp test. The fruit rinds flour also reduced the loss of body weight and significantly decreased food intake in the diabetic mice. Additionally, a significant reduction in blood glucose was observed for 15 d and this was maintained on 21 d and 28 d when compared with diabetic mice. Furthermore, the P. glandulosa fruit rinds flour has a favourable effect on the histopathological changes of the pancreas in STZ induced diabetes. Conclusions: It is concluded that P. glandulosa fruit rinds flour is a natural product that contains potent antioxidant compounds and presents good prospects for the improvement of diabetic mellitus by reducing serum glucose levels.
2. Characterization of Cnidoscolus quercifolius Pohl bark root extract and evaluation of cytotoxic effect on human tumor cell lines
Paulo Fernando Machado PAREDES ; Fernando Csar Rodrigues BRITO ; Luiz Francisco Wemmenson Gonalves MOURA ; Patrícia Araujo DE RODRIGUES ; Stephen Rathinaraj BENJAMIN ; Eridan Orlando Pereira Tramontina FLOREAN ; Maria Izabel Florindo GUEDES ; Selene Maia DE MORAIS ; Francisco Ernani Alves MAGALHÃES
Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine 2018;8(7):345-351
Objective: To evaluate the chemical components of active extract from Cnidoscolus quercifolius root bark and its cytotoxic potential against several tumor strains. Methods: The high-performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection and