Senna macranthera: constituição química e atividades biológicas

Abstract

Several species of Senna are well known for their therapeutic properties, being used in the folk medicine to treat throat inflammation and constipation. In this study, an attempt was made to evaluate some biological and pharmacological properties of Senna macranthera leaves. In this regard, the anti-inflammatory, the laxative and the intestinal motility effects, and also the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of its methanolic extract and partitions were determined. The phytochemical screening allowed the identification of phenolic compounds like flavonoids, tannins and coumarins in the majority of the extracts except for the hexane one which presented anthrones, triterpenes and steroids in its composition. The HPLC profile showed the presence of the anthraquinone emodine in all samples. The hexane partition significantly reduced carrageenan-induced paw edema in rats in a manner similar to that of sodium diclofenac. Laxative effect was observed for the methanolic extract and hexane partition comparative to the standard drug bisacodyl, however only the later increased the intestinal motility. Moreover, the samples were evaluated for their antioxidant activity and ethyl acetate partition presented a pronounced activity comparable to the standard rutin. Antibacterial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa was also found for metanolic extratct and hexane partition. No cytotoxicity against Artemia salina and Leishmania species were detected for any extracts.