Abstract
Herbal medicines represent an advantageous alternative for the prevention and treatment of several diseases when compared to allopathic medicines. Averrhoa carambola (Oxalidaceae) is a plant rich in phenolic compounds and popularly known for its medicinal properties such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and hypoglycemic. Different enzymes of the human organism participate in physiological processes which involve hemostasis, inflammation, and formation of new tissue. These enzymes are highlighted as pharmaceutical targets for the treatment of numerous pathologies. The present work evaluated the aqueous and ethanolic extracts from A. carambola leaves on phospholipase, hemolytic, caseinolytic, thrombolytic, coagulant, and fibrinogenolytic activities induced by phospholipases A2 and proteases. Phenolic compounds and total flavonoids were quantified in the aqueous and ethanolic extracts of the leaves of Averrhoa carambola. These extracts were evaluated, in vitro, on phospholipase, proteolytic, hemolytic, thrombolytic and fibrinogenolytic activities induced by snake venoms. The results confirm the pharmacological potential of A. carambola since the extracts were able to modulate all evaluated activities related to hemostasis through inhibitions or potentiation of the enzymatic activities (phospholipases A2 and proteases). The constituents of A. carambola may act interfering in processes such as coagulation, thrombus dissolution, and fibrinogenolysis.
Highlights
The most popular and ancient method in the treatment of diseases is using herbal medicine
Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) show that more than 80% of the world population depends on herbal medicines for disease prevention and treatment
The leaves of Averrhoa carambola are rich in flavonoids (Cazarolli et al, 2012; Islam et al, 2020), and their medicinal properties are largely attributed to these compounds
Summary
The most popular and ancient method in the treatment of diseases is using herbal medicine. Plants constitute a rich source of bioactive compounds, and many drugs that are available in the market were obtained directly or indirectly from them (Dehelean et al, 2021). 50% of all medicines have their origin from plants, which demonstrate their essential role in the development of the pharmaceutical industry (Glasl and Khan, 2018). Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) show that more than 80% of the world population depends on herbal medicines for disease prevention and treatment. Many herbal medicines have advantages compared to the allopathic ones, such as low cost to obtain, greater safety in their use, and fewer adverse effects (Ahmad and Sharma, 2020). Envenoming is caused by the collective action of different classes of toxins, such as phospholipases A2, metalloproteases, serine proteases, L-amino acid oxidases, and hyaluronidases (Gutiérrez et al, 2007)
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