Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Apr 4:2018:9781724.
doi: 10.1155/2018/9781724. eCollection 2018.

Development of Nanoemulsions to Enhance the Antileishmanial Activity of Copaifera paupera Oleoresins

Igor A Rodrigues  1 , Aline de S Ramos  2 , Deborah Q Falcão  3 , José Luiz P Ferreira  2   3 , Silvia L Basso  4 , Jefferson Rocha de A Silva  5 , Ana Claudia F Amaral  2
Affiliations

Development of Nanoemulsions to Enhance the Antileishmanial Activity of Copaifera paupera Oleoresins

Igor A Rodrigues et al. Biomed Res Int. .

Abstract

Based on the ethnopharmacological evidences about the antileishmanial activity of Copaifera spp. oleoresins, the effects of crude extracts and fractions of oleoresin of two specimens from Copaifera paupera were evaluated on Leishmania amazonensis and Leishmania infantum strains. The oleoresin rich in α-copaene (38.8%) exhibited the best activity against L. amazonensis (IC50 = 62.5 μg/mL) and against L. infantum (IC50 = 65.9 μg/mL). The sesquiterpene α-copaene isolated was tested alone and exhibited high antileishmanial activity in vitro with IC50 values for L. amazonensis and L. infantum of 17.2 and 11.4 μg/mL, respectively. In order to increase antileishmanial activity, nanoemulsions containing copaiba oleoresin and α-copaene were developed and assayed against L. amazonensis and L. infantum promastigotes. The nanoemulsion containing α-copaene (NANOCOPAEN) showed the best activity against both species, with IC50 of 2.5 and 2.2 μg/mL, respectively. This is the first report about the antileishmanial activity of α-copaene.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Droplet size distribution for nanoemulsions (a) NANORE04, (b) NANORB13, (c) NANODIT B13, and (d) NANOCOPAEN.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Photomicrographs of empty (a) and copaiba oleoresin-loaded (b) nanoemulsions.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Hou Ding. Studies in Malesian Caesalpinioideae (Leguminosae). I. The genera Acrocarpus, Afzelia, Copaifera and Intsia. Blumea: Journal of Plant Taxonomy and Plant Geography. 1994;38(2):313–330.
    1. Martins-da-Silva R. C. V., Pereira J. F., Lima H. C. O gênero Copaifera (Leguminosae – Caesalpinioideae) na Amazônia Brasileira. Rodriguésia. 2008;59:455–476.
    1. Moreira R. C. R., Rebêlo J. M. M., Gama M. E. A., Costa J. M. L. Awareness of American tegumentary leishmaniasis (ATL) and use of alternative therapies in an endemic area in the Amazon Region in the State of Maranhão, Brazil. Cadernos de Saúde Pública. 2002;18:187–195. - PubMed
    1. Kvist L. P., Christensen S. B., Rasmussen H. B., Mejia K., Gonzalez A. Identification and evaluation of Peruvian plants used to treat malaria and leishmaniasis. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 2006;106(3):390–402. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2006.01.020. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Estevez Y., Castillo D., Pisango M. T., et al. Evaluation of the leishmanicidal activity of plants used by Peruvian Chayahuita ethnic group. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 2007;114(2):254–259. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2007.08.007. - DOI - PubMed

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources