Caracterização química e potencial antimalárico de Andira nitida Mart. ex Benth

Abstract

The Andira species (Fabaceae), popularly known as "Angelins" stand out for popular use as febrifugue, vermifuge and antimalarial. Chemically they are characterized by the presence of phenolic derivatives such as isoflavones. However, despite evidence of antimalarial activity of the genus, there is a lack about chemical and biological studies of Andira nitida. So the present study aimed to establish the chemical profile and assess the biological potential of A. nitida, to find a possible option for new therapeutic targets for the malaria treatment. The chemical profile was established by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), after analysis of the chromatograms; they showed the predominant presence of phenolic derivatives, especially flavonoids such as isoflavones and catechin derivatives. The contents of phenolic derivatives ranged from 100 to 320 mg catechin equivalent/g sample and from 90 to 280 mg gallic acid equivalent/g sample. The isoflavonoids content ranged from 6.24 to 11.15 mg equivalent biochanin A/g sample and flavonoids content ranged from 1.20 to 4.55 mg quercetin equivalent/g sample. The EC50 for DPPH ranged from 5.99-31.90 μg/mL.Trolox equivalent antioxidant activity (TEAC) values for the samples were 0.161 to 0.693. Strong correlation was found between oxidant activity by DPPH and content of phenolic derivatives (Pearson > 0.9) and between TEAC and the flavonoids content expressed in quercetin (Pearson > 0.83). The fraction in hexane and in chloroform showed EC50 of 40.5 μg/mL and 136.2 μg/mL, respectively; in the quantification of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances assay (TBARS). The more active samples in antiplasmodial assay (LDH testing) were the fractions in hexane and in chloroform with 31% inhibition of P. falciparum growth. In the ferriprotoporphyrin polymerization inhibition assay (FBIT) the EC50 ranging from 0.41 to 1.12 mg/ml and the fractions in hexane, in chloroform and in ethyl acetate were actives along with the lipophilic extract. In vivo, these samples at 200 mg/kg/day (Peters testing) showed parasitaemia inhibitions of 39-75 % in day 7 after infection. The results indicated that A. nitida presents chemical profile composed of isoflavones, corroborated by quantification of isoflavones, and thus confirms the role of isoflavones as potential chemosystematic markers of Andira genus. Futhermore, the samples from A. nitida can be a source of bioactive substances with pronounced antioxidant activity, as well as interesting antimalarial activity thus can be an alternative for future therapeutic applications.