Abstract
Geopropolis is produced by some stingless bee species such as Melipona fasciculata and consists of a mixture of plant resins, salivary secretions of the bee, wax, and soil. This study evaluated the antileishmanial activity in vitro, cytotoxicity and chemical composition of geopropolis produced by M. fasciculata in the savannah region of Maranhão, Brazil. The geopropolis extract was obtained through maceration using in 70% ethanol. The hydroalcoholic extract of geopropolis after liquid–liquid partition yielded the hexane, chloroformic, ethyl acetate and hydroalcoholic fractions. Antileishmanial activity was evaluated against promastigote and intracellular amastigote of Leishmania amazonensis. Cytotoxic was realized in BALB/c mice peritoneal macrophages. Chemical analysis was performed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and high performance liquid chromatography coupled to an ultraviolet–visible detector. The geopropolis inhibited the L. amazonensis promastigotes growth and was effective in reducing the infection of murine macrophages since the number of internalized amastigotes were smaller in cells treated with the geopropolis extract in relation to the untreated group. The ethyl acetate fraction was the most active and showed the highest index of selectivity as antileishmanial product. The geopropolis from M. fasciculata had an antileishmanial effect, mainly after the obtention of the ethyl acetate fraction that improved the activity without increasing the cytotoxicity against murine macrophages. Analysis for gas chromatography-mass spectrometer identified as main compounds the gallic and ellagic phenolic acids, either in the extract or in the active fraction. The results obtained by high performance liquid chromatography it was possible to confirm the presence and quantify the concentration gallic and ellagic acid either in the extract or in the active fraction. These results suggest that the antileishmanial activity of geopropolis is related to the presence of derivatives of these phenolic acids, mainly gallic and ellagic acids.
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