A técnica de microdiluição para a determinação da concentração inibitória mínima (CIM) de um produto natural utilizando espectrofotômetro para microplacas foi comparada ao método de diluição seriada em tubo. A CIM da Paepalantina para S. aureus foi a mesma por ambos métodos demonstrando possuir efeito antimicrobiano semelhante ao cloranfenicol.The microdilution technique, using a microplate photometer, to determine the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) for a natural product was compared to the serial tube dilution method. The MIC obtained for Paepalantine against S. aureus was the same by the two methods, showing an antimicrobial effect similar to chloramphenicol

Background: Several in vitro studies have looked at the effect of medicinal plant extracts against Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). Regardless of the popular use of Byrsonima crassa (B. crassa) as antiemetic, diuretic, febrifuge, to treat diarrhea, gastritis and ulcers, there is no data on its effects against H. pylori. In this study, we evaluated the anti-H. pylori of B. crassa leaves extracts and its effects on reactive oxygen/nitrogen intermediates induction by murine peritoneal macrophages. Methods: The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined by broth microdilution method and the production of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and nitric oxide (NO) by the horseradish peroxidase-dependent oxidation of phenol red and Griess reaction, respectively. Results: The methanolic (MeOH) and chloroformic (CHCl₃) extracts inhibit, in vitro, the growth of H. pylori with MIC value of 1024 μg/ml. The MeOH extract induced the production H₂O₂ and NO, but CHCl₃ extract only NO. Conclusion: Based in our results, B. crassa can be considered a source of compounds with anti-H. pylori activity, but its use should be done with caution in treatment of the gastritis and peptic ulcers, since the reactive oxygen/nitrogen intermediates are involved in the pathogenesis of gastric mucosal injury induced by ulcerogenic agents and H. pylori infections.

Numerous natural compounds have a potential for therapeutic applications, but may have to be chemically modified to alter toxic side effects. We investigated structural parameters that could affect the cytotoxicity of isocoumarins similar to 9,10-dihydroxy-5,7-dimethoxy- 1H-naphtho(2,3c)pyran-1-one (paepalantine 1). Paepalantine 1 has antimicrobial activity, as well as significant in vitro cytotoxic effects in the McCoy cell line. Two other natural and two semi-synthetic isocoumarins with similar structures obtained from the capitula of Paepalanthus bromelioides were tested on the same cell line by the neutral red assay. Substitution of the 9 and/or 10-OH group made these compounds less cytotoxic.

Paepalantine (9,10-dihydroxy-5,7-dimethoxy-1H-naphto(2,3c)pyran-1-one), a natural isocoumarin isolated from the capitula of Paepalanthus bromelioides (Eriocaulaceae), was assessed for its effect on the respiratory burst (zymosan-stimulated luminol-enhanced chemiluminescence and PMA-stimulated lucigenin-enhanced chemiluminescence) of polymorphonuclear neutrophils in vitro. Special attention was devoted to establishing the IC50 for neutrophils. Paepalantine was able to decrease luminol and lucigenin chemiluminescence, reflecting an inhibitory effect on the respiratory burst, with an ED50 of 0.44±0.05 and 0.84±0.15 μg/ml, respectively. A cell-free system was performed with paepalantine on myeloperoxidase/H2O2 and myeloperoxidase/H2O2/Cl− systems. Paepalantine inhibited luminol oxidation in both systems. This inhibition was related to the interaction of paepalantine-myeloperoxidase and its scavenger effect on HOCl.

To characterize the influence of occupancy on the indoor air quality, a public office building with air-conditioning system was selected for this study. The indoor parameters included total bacteria count, total fungal count, temperature, relative humidity, and carbon dioxide concentration. The number of occupants, which varied throughout the day, was recorded in each sample. The samples were taken before the beginning of the working day and during 3 h, at an interval of 30 min between each sampling, and continued for five working days during a week. Correlation analysis demonstrated that occupancy rates were positively correlated with airborne bacteria, CO2, and temperature. No significant association between the number of occupants and fungus was observed. The results of this study provided information on the variability of indoor air parameters during the time-varying occupancy over the course of the day in at air-conditioned buildings where occupancy was quite dynamic.

Ten Brazilian medicinal plants used to treat gastritis and ulcers were carefully selected on the basis of ethnopharmacological importance and antiulcerogenic activity previously described. The antioxidant activity of the methanolic extracts was determined in analysis conditions that simulate a real biological activity on inhibition of the oxidative burst induced in neutrophils usingHelicobacter pylorias activator, by a luminol-amplified chemiluminescence assay. The extracts, at low concentration (5 μg/mL), exhibited a large variation in inhibitory effects ofH. pylori-induced oxidative burst ranging from 48% inhibition to inactive, but all extracts, excludingByrsonima intermedia, had inhibitory activity over 80% at the concentration of 100 μg/mL. The total suppressive antioxidant capacity measured as the effective concentration, which represents the extract concentration producing 50% inhibition of the chemiluminescence induced byH. pylori, varies from 27.2 to 56.8 μg/mL and was in the following order:Qualea parviflora > Qualea multiflora > Alchornea triplinervia > Qualea grandiflora > Anacardium humile > Davilla elliptica > Mouriri pusa > Byrsonima basiloba > Alchornea glandulosa > Byrsonima intermedia. The main groups of compounds in tested extracts are presented. Differences in the phytochemical profile, quantitatively and qualitatively, of these plants can explain and justify their protective effect on the gastric mucosa caused by the neutrophil-generated ROS that occurs whenH. pyloridisplays its evasion mechanisms.