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©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
Lafoensia pacari alleviates intestinal damage by modulating cyclooxygenase-2: In silico and in vivo evaluation in a colitis model
Gabrielle Caroline Peiter, Thayene Kamyli Moesch Queiroz, Edson Luiz Michalkiewicz Jr, Raphael Henrique Chappuis, Jennefer Sousa Luz, Luiz Henrique Casagrande Piovezani, Cleison Ferreira Silva, Matheus Nozomi Tsutumi, Augusto Fernandes Chaves, Rafael Messias Luiz, Cinthia Façanha Wendel, Ana Carla Zarpelon-Schutz, Kádima Nayara Teixeira
Gabrielle Caroline Peiter, Kádima Nayara Teixeira, Programa Multicêntrico de Pós-graduação em Biquímica e Biologia Molecular - Setor Palotina, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Palotina 85.950-000, Paraná, Brazil
Thayene Kamyli Moesch Queiroz, Ana Carla Zarpelon-Schutz, Programa de Pós-graduação em Biotecnologia - Setor Palotina, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Palotina 85.950-000, Paraná, Brazil
Edson Luiz Michalkiewicz Jr, Raphael Henrique Chappuis, Jennefer Sousa Luz, Luiz Henrique Casagrande Piovezani, Cleison Ferreira Silva, Matheus Nozomi Tsutumi, Augusto Fernandes Chaves, Rafael Messias Luiz, Cinthia Façanha Wendel, Ana Carla Zarpelon-Schutz, Kádima Nayara Teixeira, Campus Toledo, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Toledo 85.919-899, Paraná, Brazil
Author contributions: Peiter GC, Moesch Queiroz TK, Michalkiewicz Jr EL, Chappuis RH, Luz JS, Casagrande Piovezani LH, Ferreira Silva C, Nozomi Tsutumi M, Fernandes Chaves A, Luiz RM and Façanha Wendel C performed the experiments; Zarpelon-Schutz AC, Peiter GC and Teixeira KN analyzed the results and wrote the manuscript; Zarpelon-Schutz AC and Teixeira KN interpreted the data, performed the critical analysis of the results, corrected the manuscript and coordinated the study; All authors approved the final version of the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The Institutional Review Board declares knowledge about the study.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee declares knowledge and approval about the study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: The authors declare that all data are public and can be shared upon reasonable request.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See:
https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Corresponding author: Kádima Nayara Teixeira, PhD, Professor, Campus Toledo, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Max Planck 3796, Toledo 85.919-899, Paraná, Brazil. kadimateixeira@ufpr.br
Received: November 19, 2022
Peer-review started: November 19, 2022
First decision: February 1, 2023
Revised: March 12, 2023
Accepted: April 10, 2023
Article in press: April 10, 2023
Published online: May 7, 2023
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background
Therapeutic activities of Lafoensia pacari (L. pacari) have been reported in folk medicine, and this plant has been used as an antifungal, an anti-ulcer, an antibacterial, an anti-inflammatory, a fever reducer, in the treatment of pneumonia, and in the treatment of stomach pain. Despite the common use of this plant, the mechanisms by which it achieves medicinal effects have not been elucidated.
Research motivation
L. pacari is a tree found in Brazil thought to have beneficial pharmacological properties, with its main bioactive compounds belonging to the flavonoid class. One of the most studied flavonoids found in this plant is ellagic acid, which has been reported to have anti-inflammatory activity. However, L. pacari contains numerous flavonoids, and these compounds may also have similar activity to or act synergistically with ellagic acid.
Research objectives
We aimed to evaluate the activity of keto-alcoholic extracts of L. pacari leaves and bark, which contain a significant amount of flavonoids, with respect to the improvement of symptoms related to inflammatory bowel diseases (e.g., inflammation of the intestinal mucosa, edema, and abdominal pain).
Research methods
The methodology used in this study was based on protocols already well established in the scientific literature, and, when necessary, some modifications were made. All experiments were performed with a number of mice that allowed for statistical analysis of the data and were performed in duplicate or triplicate depending on statistical requirements.
Research results
Our results corroborated those described by other studies with respect to the beneficial effects of L. pacari extracts; however, to our knowledge, we are the first to evaluate the therapeutic potential of these extracts in a murine model of acute colitis. Antinociception/analgesia in this murine model were observed with respect to treatment with extracts derived from L. pacari leaves and bark.
Research conclusions
Our findings suggest that keto-alcoholic extracts of L. pacari leaves and bark are beneficial for the reduction of symptoms related to inflammatory bowel disease. These effects are attributed to the decrease or inhibition of inflammation in the intestinal mucosa. Regarding pain, bioinformatics techniques indicated that ellagic acid alone is not responsible for these effects, since other flavonoids interact and inhibit with significant affinity cyclooxygenase-2, an enzyme that produces pain mediators.
Research perspectives
This study is part of a larger research project; follow-up experiments are planned using a rat model of chronic colitis, other antinociception tests. Future experiments will also investigate the histology of intestinal segments after induction and treatment of chronic colitis with L. pacari extracts.
