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Evaluation of the toxicity and antiulcerogenic activity of the ethanol extract of Maytenus obtusifolia Mart. leaves

2008; Springer Science+Business Media; Volume: 18; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1590/s0102-695x2008000300019

1981-528X

Kelly Samara de Lira Mota, João Carlos Lima Rodrigues Pita, Ethiene Castellucci Estevam, Viviane Marcelino Medeiros, Josean Fechine Tavares, Maria de Fátima Agra, Margareth de Fátima Formiga Melo Diniz, Marcelo Sobral da Silva, Leônia Maria Batista,

Hedgehog Signaling Pathway Studies

Maytenus obtusifolia is used in folk medicine for the treatment of serious ulcers, general inflammations and cancer. Despite of the ethnopharmacological importance of this species, no study was conducted to evaluate its toxicity and antiulcerogenic activity. In this study, we evaluated the toxicity and antiulcerogenic property of the ethanol extract of the leaves of Maytenus obtusifolia (MO-EtOH). The MO-EtOH (10-1000 µg/mL) showed low toxicity for larvae of A. salina with LC50 higher than 1000 µg/mL. The MO-EtOH (2000 mg/kg, p.o.) did not change the body and organs weight of the mice, but it was observed an increase in the water consumption of males and a decrease in the food consumption of females. During the study no deaths and no macroscopic changes in the organs were observed in the mice. MO-EtOH (62.5, 125, 250 and 500 mg/kg) and lansoprazole (30 mg/kg) significantly reduced the ulcerative index for 65.58 ± 8.74, 43.00 ± 9.53, 15.50 ± 7.56, 54.75 ± 8.88 and 36.13 ± 9.55, respectively, in comparison with saline 82.13 ± 12.48. In conclusion, the MO-EtOH showed low toxicity and antiulcerogenic activity, confirming the popular use of M. obtusifolia.