Immunological and microbiological activity of Davilla elliptica St. Hill. (Dilleniaceae) against Mycobacterium tuberculosis

• Main Authors: Flávia Cristine Mascia Lopes, Marisa Campos Polesi Placeres, Cleso Mendonça Jordão Junior, Célio Takashi Higuchi, Daniel Rinaldo, Wagner Vilegas, Clarice Queico Fujimura Leite, Iracilda Zeppone Carlos
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde 2007-09-01
• Series: Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz.
• Subjects: Davilla elliptica; antimycobacterial activity; immunological activity
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0074-02762007000600018

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is responsible for over 8 million cases of tuberculosis (TB) annually. Natural products may play important roles in the chemotherapy of TB. The immunological activity of Davilla elliptica chloroform extract (DECE) was evaluated in vitro by the determination of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), nitric oxide (NO), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) release in peritoneal macrophages cultures. DECE was also tested for its antimycobacterial activity against M. tuberculosis using the microplate alamar blue assay. DECE (50, 150, 250 µg/ml) stimulated the production of H2O2 (from 1,79 ± 0,23 to 7,27 ± 2,54; 15,02 ± 2,86; 20,5 ± 2,1 nmols) (means ± SD), NO (from 2,64 ± 1,02 to 25,59 ± 2,29; 26,68 ± 2,41; 29,45 ± 5,87 µmols) (means ± SD) and TNF-alpha (from 2,44 ± 1,46 to 30,37 ± 8,13; 38,68 ± 1,59; 41,6 ± 0,90 units/ml) (means ± SD) in a dose-dependent manner and also showed a promising antimycobacterial activity with a minimum inhibitory concentration of 62,5 µg/ml. This plant may have therapeutic potential in the immunological and microbiological control of TB.