Anti-Inflammatory Potential of the Oleoresin from the Amazonian Tree Copaifera reticulata with an Unusual Chemical Composition in Rats.

José De Almeida Júnior,Lauro Barata,Éden Da Silva,Elaine De Oliveira,Waldiney Moraes,Aline Kasper,Euzebio Oliveira,Leopoldo Baratto,Tânia Moraes,Antonio Minervino,Adilson Sartoratto

doi:10.3390/vetsci8120320

Abstract

Copaifera reticulata Ducke is a popularly known species known as copaíba that is widely spread throughout the Amazon region. The tree yields an oleoresin which is extensively used in local traditional medicine mainly as an anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive agent. The aim of the present study was to assess the anti-inflammatory potential of this oleoresin obtained from a national forest in the central Amazon which presented an unusual chemical composition. The chemical composition of volatile compounds of oleoresin was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The acute toxicity assay was performed with a single dose of 2000 mg/kg. The anti-inflammatory potential was evaluated by carrageenan-induced paw edema and air pouch assays using four different C. reticulata oleoresin concentrations (10, 100, and 400 mg/kg). The exudate was evaluated for nitrite concentration through the colorimetric method and for TNF-α, IL-1β, and PGE2 by ELISA. C. reticulata oleoresin collected in the Amazonian summer contained six major sesquiterpene compounds (β-bisabolene, cis-eudesma-6,11-diene, trans-α-bergamotene, β-selinene, α-selinene, and β-elemene) and was nontoxic at a dose of 2000 mg/kg, showing low acute toxicity. Different from oleoresin obtained from other sites of the Brazilian Amazon, the major volatile compound found was β-Bisabolene with 25.15%. This β-Bisabolene-rich oleoresin reduced the formation of paw edema induced by carrageenan and reduced the global number of cells in the air pouch assay, as well as exudate volume and nitrite, TNF-α, IL-1β, and prostaglandin E2 levels (p < 0.05). C. reticulata oleoresin with a high β-Bisabolene concentration showed anti-inflammatory activity, reducing vascular permeability and consequently edema formation, and thus reducing cell migration and the production of inflammatory cytokine, confirming its traditional use by local Amazonian communities.

Highlights

Plants are a major primary source for molecules with a wide range of biological activity, from classical activities such as anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial [1,2] to additional biological properties such as anticancer activity [3,4] and microbiome regulation [5], with recent studies showing that Amazon can be a source of plant with a broad array of biological activities [6,7].Inflammation is a response of the immune system to tissue damage caused by biological, mechanical, or chemical stimuli [8] and is mediated by many signaling molecules released by local cells in the presence of an injury
It is important to note that the percentages of the compounds listed in Table 1 are related to the total number of compounds identified in the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis; they are not the percentage of the compounds in the extract and that the GC-MS analysis identified only volatile compounds
Oleoresin promoted a dose-dependent response of Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) levels at concentrations characterization volatile compounds

Summary

Introduction

Inflammation is a response of the immune system to tissue damage caused by biological, mechanical, or chemical stimuli [8] and is mediated by many signaling molecules released by local cells in the presence of an injury. Copaifera reticulata Ducke (Fabaceae) is a common Amazonian species known for its ethnopharmacological application It is a tree popularly known as copaíba or pau d’óleo that grows to a height of up to 40 m [10] with a trunk rich in an oleoresin that is extracted by perforation of the wood. Indians used to apply the oleoresin to the navels of newborns and to warriors who returned from their battles with exposed wounds [12]

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