Abstract
Piper angustifolium Lam., Piperaceae, popularly known as “matito”, “pimenta-de-macaco”, “pimentalonga” or “jagurandi” in Brazil, has been commonly used in the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis-associated lesions, but there are few studies on the activity against visceral leishmaniasisassociated species. This study demonstrates the first in vitro antileishmanial activity of the P. angustifolium essential oil, of which the phytochemical profile showed the presence of sesquiterpenes and monoterpenes. The main compounds were spathulenol (23.8%) and caryophyllene oxide (13.1%). P. angustifolium essential oil was highly active [the half maximum inhibitory concentration = 1.43 μg/ml] against intracellular amastigotes of Leishmania infantum, the etiological agent of visceral leishmaniasis in the New and Old World. Activity was obtained 24 h after addition of the oil (6.25–50 μg/ml), with a reduction of 100% in the infection index at concentrations of 25 and 50 μg/ml. P. angustifolium essential oil showed low cytotoxicity for mammalian fibroblasts and macrophages (the half maximum inhibitory concentration values of 31.67 and 48.22 μg/ml, respectively), and it was 33 and 22 times more toxic to amastigotes than to mammalian cells, as indicated by selectivity indexes. The results demonstrated that P. angustifolium essential oil is a promising alternative for the study of potential drugs for visceral leishmaniasis.
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank the (CNPq) for the financial support received, and Dr. Geraldo Alves Junior Damasceno, for identification of the species.
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LSSB, YSR and MCC (MSc students) contributed to biological studies. DPD (PhD student) contributed by collecting plant samples, and performing chromatographic analysis. MCTK contributed to the NO evaluation test. MFCM contributed to the cytotoxicity test. MCSM contributed to critical reading of the manuscript. CCPA and CAC designed the study, supervised the laboratory work and contributed to critical reading of the manuscript. All the authors have read the final manuscript and approved the submission.
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Bosquiroli, L.S.S., Demarque, D.P., Rizk, Y.S. et al. In vitro anti-Leishmania infantum activity of essential oil from Piper angustifolium. Rev. Bras. Farmacogn. 25, 124–128 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bjp.2015.03.008
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bjp.2015.03.008