Abstract
Context: Inflammatory disorders are common in modern life, and medicinal plants provide an interesting source for new compounds bearing anti-inflammatory properties. In this regard, Brazilian medicinal plants are considered to be a promising supply of such compounds due to their great biodiversity.Objectives: To undertake a review on Brazilian medicinal plants with corroborated anti-inflammatory activities by selecting data from the literature reporting the efficacy of plants used in folk medicine as anti-inflammatory, including the mechanisms of action of their extracts and isolated compounds.Methods: A search in the literature was undertaken by using the following Web tools: Web of Science, SciFinder, Pub-Med and Science Direct. The terms ‘anti-inflammatory’ and ‘Brazilian medicinal plants’ were used as keywords in search engine. Tropicos and Reflora websites were used to verify the origin of the plants, and only the native plants of Brazil were included in this review. The publications reporting the use of well-accepted scientific protocols to corroborate the anti-inflammatory activities of Brazilian medicinal plants with anti-inflammatory potential were considered.Results: We selected 70 Brazilian medicinal plants with anti-inflammatory activity. The plants were grouped according to their anti-inflammatory mechanisms of action. The main mechanisms involved inflammatory mediators, such as interleukins (ILs), nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), cyclooxygenase (COX) and reactive oxygen species (ROS).Conclusions: The collected data on Brazilian medicinal plants, in the form of crude extract and/or isolated compounds, showed significant anti-inflammatory activities involving different mechanisms of action, indicating Brazilian plants as an important source of anti-inflammatory compounds.
Highlights
Medicinal plants represent a remarkable source in the treatment of various human diseases
Context: Inflammatory disorders are common in modern life, and medicinal plants provide an interesting source for new compounds bearing anti-inflammatory properties
Brazilian medicinal plants are considered to be a promising supply of such compounds due to their great biodiversity
Summary
Medicinal plants represent a remarkable source in the treatment of various human diseases. Fractions of the extract of this plant, rich in the flavonoids vicenin-2, spinosin, isovitexin, swertisin and isoswertisin, display anti-inflammatory effects by decreasing the acute inflammation by 66% at 0.5 mg/ear in a TPA (12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate)-induced mouse ear oedema and in vitro, at a dose of 22.3 mg/mL It inhibited COX-2 expression by 49% (Aquila et al 2009). The activity of plant extracts and its isolated compounds on COX enzymes shows that natural products may act by a mechanism similar to NSAIDs. Many of them are COX-2 selective inhibitors, and this open the door for the development of new promising and novel phytotherapeutic medicine with less gastric side effects. Inhibition of NO production Production of IL-10 Inhibiting IL-1 and TNF-a Formation of IL-5
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