Abstract
In this work, angiogenic activity of Calendula officinalis L. (Asteraceae) ethanolic extract and dichloromethane and hexanic fractions were evaluated, considering medicinal properties, especially healing activity, are attributed to this plant. Models using 36 rats and 90 embryonated eggs were used to evaluate healing and angiogenic activities of extracts and fractions of the plant, through the induction of skin wounds and the chorioallantoic membrane, respectively. The effect of vascular proliferation was also tested from the study to verify the intensity of expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in cutaneous wounds in rats. The angiogenic activity of the extract and the fractions was evidenced in both experimental models. It was verified that this effect is not directly related to the expression of VEGF and it could be associated to other pro-angiogenic factors. The healing activity referred to C. officinalis is related, among other factors, to its positive effect on angiogenesis, characterized by the induction of neovascularization.
Highlights
Since the Antiquity, medicinal properties have been attributed to the flower commonly known as calendula (Calendula officinalis L.), from the Asteraceae family
We aimed to evaluate the angiogenic activity of the ethanolic extract and its fractions produced from C. officinalis flowers (CEE) cultivated in Brazil
In morphometric evaluation increase of the vascular area and of percentage of red-marked areas was observed in chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) treated as positive control 1% (17 ß-estradiol), ethanolic extract 1%, dichloromethane fraction 1% and hexanic fraction 1%, compared to solvent control
Summary
Since the Antiquity, medicinal properties have been attributed to the flower commonly known as calendula (Calendula officinalis L.), from the Asteraceae family. It seems that its use has been more disseminated from the XIII century on, and it was initially utilized for healing wounds. Few experimental models have been carried out for the evaluation of the anti-inflammatory activity of the C. officinalis. One of these models was conducted by means of the induction of ear edema by croton oil and another one by the use of carrageenan-induced paw edema[4,5,6]. The CAM has been often used in the assessment os substances with pro-angiogenic activity, such as the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and antiangiogenic, such as the endostatin[8,9,10]
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