Advancement in Medicinal Plant Research

Number 4, 2014

58-61
Antimicrobial activitiy of the fruits essential oil of Xylopia aethiopica [Dun.] A. Rich

Authors: Arwa Muslim Hassan, Aisha Zoheir Almagboul and Haidar Abdelgadir

Abstract

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The antimicrobial activity of the fruits essential oil of Xylopia aethiopica (family: Annonaceae) was tested against six standard bacteria: Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and against two standard fungi namely Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans using the Agar plate diffusion method. The fruits essential oil of Xylopia aethiopica dissolved in methanol (1:10) showed high activity (21 mm) against the Gram positive Staphylococcus aureus and Gram negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa. It also showed moderate activity (16 mm) against the Gram positive Bacillus subtilis and against the Gram negative E. coli (15 mm), K. pneumoniae (17 mm) and P. vulgaris (16 mm). The essential oil also showed high activity (19 mm) against A. niger and (21 mm) against C. albicans. The fruits oil was also tested against sixty clinical isolates, collected randomly from Khartoum and Soba Hospitals. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of the essential oil against standard bacteria were determined using the agar diffusion method. The antimicrobial activity of the reference drugs were determined against the standard organisms and compared with the antimicrobial activity of the tested oil. Keywords: Xylopia aethiopica, fruits, essential oil, antimicrobial activity.

62-72
Curcumin encapsulated in poly-L-lactic acid improves its anti-inflammatory efficacy in vivo

Authors: Bruno A. Rocha, Odinei H. Gonçalves, Fernanda V. Leimann, Edirlene S. W. Rebecca, Rosana A. Silva-Buzanello, Lúcio C. Filho, Pedro H. H. Araújo, Roberto K. N. Cuman and Ciomar A. Bersani-Amado

Abstract

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Curcuma longa L., commonly known as turmeric, has been used to treat some diseases such as gastric ulcers and rheumatoid arthritis. Studies showed that curcumin (Cur) has low water solubility and impaired bioavailability as a consequence of poor absorption, rapid hepatic and intestinal metabolism and also systemic elimination, justifying the development of new formulations to improve its bioavailability. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of Cur and nanoencapsulated curcumin (CurNano) on acute inflammatory response in rats. For this, we used the miniemulsification/evaporation technique to obtain nanoparticles of poly(L-lactic acid) containing curcumin at different concentrations (1, 3, 9, and 15%). The results of the encapsulation efficiency, scanning electron microscopy, calorimetry, and infrared showed that curcumin was efficiently encapsulated, but there was an upper limit of the concentration of curcumin that can be entrapped in the nanoparticles (around 2.6%). The biological efficacy was evaluated by experimental model of carrageenan-induced paw edema. The data showed an improvement in the anti-inflammatory activity of curcumin because CurNano at dose 50 mg/kg produced an inhibitory effect similar to that of Cur 400 mg/kg. This probably occurred because of an increase in the bioavailability of curcumin after its encapsulation. Keywords: Curcumin, nanoparticles, inflammation, nanoencapsulation, bioavailability.