Antimicrobial and antifungal B-type oligomeric procyanidins of commiphora leptophloeos: isolation, chemical characterization and
quantification
Burcereceae. Inflammation. Infection. Flavonoids. Procyanidins.
The specie Commiphora leptophloeos is a native plant from Brazil, belongs to caatinga biome
and known popularly as “imburana-de-espinho” and “imburana-de-cambão”. The
ethnobotanic studies cite the use of this specie in the treatment of inflammations and
infections. In this context, the present study aimed to evaluate the toxicity, anti-inflammatory
and antimicrobial activity in non-clinical in vitro and in vivo assays of leaf and stem bark
extracts, and to isolate, identify and quantify chemical markers. In the phytochemical study,
the hydroethanolic extract was prepared by maceration and the fractionation was made by
liquid-liquid partition. Isolation, elucidation and characterization of the extracts were
performed by CPC, LC-MS, FIA-ESI-IT-MS/MS and 1H NMR and quantification of the
markers in the extracts by HPLC-DAD and HPLC-ELSD. The cytotoxicity of both extracts
was analyzed by MTT and flow cytometry assays. The in vitro anti-inflammatory activity was
elucidated using LPS-induced nitric oxide assay and in vivo by carrageenan-induced paw
edema and oral zidovudine induced air pocket models. The antimicrobial action was measured
by the determination of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). From leaf extract, 2
flavonoids were isolated by CPC and 16 compounds were characterized by LC-MS/MS such
as phenolic acids, glycosylated flavonoids derivatives of quercetin, luteolin and apigenin, and
apigenin and condensed tannins derivatives of catechin. From the stem bark extract 2 tannins
were isolated by CPC and characterized 8 compounds such as phenolic acids and
procyanidins. Leaf extract at 100 μg/mL and stem bark extract at concentrations of 1, 10, 100
and 200 μg/mL demonstrated in vitro anti-inflammatory effect in the LPS-induced nitric
oxide assay. In the model of carrageenan-induced paw edema, the extracts of leaves and stem
bark at the doses of 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg significantly reduced the edema followed by
reduction of myeloperoxidase (MPO) and the model (p <0.001), cell migration, total protein
concentration, myeloperoxidase (MPO), and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were
significantly reduced (P <0.001) in the same doses tested. In the evaluation of the
antimicrobial activity, the leaf extract was active for Bacillus cereus, whereas the extracts of
the barks and the AcOET and BuOH fractions at concentrations of 20 to 100 μg/mL
demonstrated a fungistatic and bactericidal effect. The results obtained are unprecedent for the
species, justify their use in folk medicine and reveal that extracts of leaves and stem bark
present a therapeutic potential for the development of herbal products with anti-inflammatory
and antimicrobial properties.