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Morbidity and mortality of the infected patients by multidrug-resistant bacteria have increased, emphasizing the urgency of fight for the discovery of new innovative antibiotics. In this sense, natural products emerge as valuable sources of bioactive compounds. Among the biodiversity, Eryngium pristis Cham. & Schltdl. (Apiaceae Lindl.) is traditionally used to treat thrush and ulcers of throat and mouth, as diuretic and emmenagogue, but scarcely known as an antimicrobial agent. With this context in mind, the goals of this study were to investigate the metabolic profile and the antibacterial activity of ethanolic extract (EE-Ep) and hexane (HF-Ep), dichloromethane (DF-Ep), ethyl acetate (EAF-Ep) and butanol (BF-Ep) fractions from E. pristis leaves. Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) was performed to stablish the metabolic profile and revealed the presence of 12 and 14 compounds in EAF-Ep and HF-Ep, respectively. β-selinene, spathulenol, globulol, 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol, α-amyrin, β-amyrin, and lupeol derivative were some of phytochemicals identified. The antibacterial activity was determined by Minimal Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) using the broth micro-dilution against eight ATCC® and five methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clinical strains. HF-Ep was the most effective (MIC ≤ 5,000 µg/µL), being active against the largest part of tested Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains, including MRSA, with exception of Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 9027) and (ATCC 27853). These results suggest that E. pristis is a natural source of bioactive compounds for the search of new antibiotics which can be an interesting therapeutic approach to recover patients mainly infected by MRSA strains.

O servico farmaceutico na Unidade Basica de Saude (UBS) do Sistema Unico de Saude (SUS) no Brasil garante o acesso a medicamentos de qualidade e contribui para o uso racional para que o paciente seja o principal beneficiario. O objetivo deste estudo foi descrever a importância da assistencia farmaceutica (AF) no funcionamento geral das UBSs com um enfoque nos servicos farmaceuticos. Os dados coletados foram organizados a partir de uma revisao da literatura em diferentes fontes bibliograficas. Os achados mostraram que a UBS e a principal porta de entrada para o sistema de saude e que deve funcionar em conformidade com as normas preconizadas pelo Ministerio da Saude do Brasil. Alem disso, e essencial a participacao do profissional farmaceutico na gestao clinica dos medicamentos para o desenvolvimento de atividades voltadas aos cuidados farmaceuticos do paciente. Portanto, a AF consiste em um conjunto de acoes relacionadas a promocao, protecao e recuperacao da saude, individual e coletiva, tendo o medicamento como insumo essencial e visando ao acesso e uso racional.

Rutin is a flavonoid used in clinical practice to treat capillary fragility and prevent bleeding due to its wide variety of pharmacological actions, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, antiproliferative, and anticarcinogenic activities. In this study, the biopharmacotechnical and physical properties of film-coated tablets containing rutin marketed in drugstores were evaluated. Using samples from three batches called A, B and C, we determined the average weight, disintegration time, hardness, content and dissolution profile, and kinetics of the tablets. The samples demonstrated average weight of 457.45 ± 12.32 to 449.15 ± 8.95 mg; disintegration time, 30.17 ± 2.14 to 15.17 ± 2.14 min; hardness, 1.92 ± 0.55 to 1.69 ± 0.36 Kgf; and rutin content, 18.34 ± 1.21 to 15.66 ± 1.29 mg. After 90 min, the dissolution profile showed 52.65, 41.80, and 79.2% for A, B, and C, respectively. The results imply that the non-conformities of the tested products can significantly compromise the drug’s therapeutic efficacy.

The ethanol extract from Vernonia polyanthes leaves (EEVP) was investigated for antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects at the doses (p.o.) of 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg in animal models. The extract reduced the number of abdominal contortions by 16.75% and 31.44% at a dose of 200 and 400 mg/kg, respectively. The results obtained showed that EEVP exerted a significant antinociceptive effect in the two phases of formalin. The EEVP increased the reaction time on a hot plate at the doses of 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg after 90 min of treatment. The paw edema was reduced by EEVP at the doses of 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg after 4 h of application of carrageenan. Doses of 200 and 400 mg/kg, administered 4 h before the carrageenan injection, significantly reduced the exudate volume (29.25 and 45.74%, respectively) and leukocyte migration (18.19 and 27.95%, respectively). These results suggest that V. polyanthes can be an active source of substances with antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities.

The present study evaluated the antioxidant potential ofVernonia condensataBaker (Asteraceae). Dried and powdered leaves were exhaustively extracted with ethanol by static maceration followed by partition to obtain the hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, and butanol fractions. Total phenols and flavonoids contents were determined through spectrophotometry and flavonoids were identified by HPLC-DAD system. The antioxidant activity was assessed by DPPH radical scavenging activity, TLC-bioautography, reducing power of Fe+3, phosphomolybdenum, and TBA assays. The total phenolic content and total flavonoids ranged from 0.19 to 23.11 g/100 g and from 0.13 to 4.10 g/100 g, respectively. The flavonoids apigenin and luteolin were identified in the ethyl acetate fraction. The IC50of DPPH assay varied from 4.28 to 75.10 µg/mL and TLC-bioautography detected the antioxidant compounds. The reducing power of Fe+3was 19.98 to 336.48 μg/mL, while the reaction with phosphomolybdenum ranged from 13.54% to 32.63% and 56.02% to 135.00% considering ascorbic acid and rutin as reference, respectively. At 30 mg/mL, the ethanolic extract and fractions revealed significant effect against lipid peroxidation. All these data sustain thatV. condensatais an important and promising source of bioactive substances with antioxidant activity.

Vernonia polyanthes Less. (Asteraceae), popularly known as “assa-peixe”, is a plant species used in Brazilian traditional medicine for the treatment of cutaneous damage, cicatrization, inflammation, and rheumatism. Based on these ethnopharmacological findings, the current study evaluated the topical anti-inflammatory effects of the hexane (HEVP) and ethyl acetate (EAEVP) extracts from V. polyanthes leaves in experimental models of skin inflammation. Chemical characterization was carried out by HPLC–UV/DAD analysis. Anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated using Croton oil-, arachidonic acid (AA)-, phenol-, ethyl phenylpropiolate (EPP)-, and capsaicin-induced ear edema models in mice. Histopathological evaluation and measurements of myeloperoxidase (MPO) and N-acetyl-β-d-glucosaminidase (NAG) enzymes were also performed. Rutin, luteolin, and apigenin were identified in EAEVP. Topically applied HEVP and EAEVP significantly (p < 0.05, p < 0.01 or p < 0.001) reduced edema induced by five different irritants at the doses tested (0.1, 0.5 and 1.0 mg/ear). Histopathological analysis revealed a reduction of edema, inflammatory cell infiltration, and vasodilation. In addition, the enzymes activity (MPO and NAG) in the ear tissues was reduced by the topical treatment of HEVP and EAEVP (p < 0.05, p < 0.01 or p < 0.001). The results suggest that V. polyanthes leaves are effective against cutaneous damage, which support its traditional use and open up new possibilities for the treatment of skin disorders.