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Antinociceptive and wound healing activities of Croton adamantinus Müll. Arg. essential oil

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Abstract

Leaves of Croton adamantinus have been used to treat inflammation and skin wounds in the semi-arid area of the Northeast of Brazil. In order to evaluate if the essential oil (EO) was responsible for the claimed activities; antinociceptive, wound healing and antimicrobial tests were carried out. Twenty constituents were identified in C. adamantinus EO by GC–MS, 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR, the major compounds being methyl-eugenol (14.81 %) and 1,8-cineol (13.74 %). Antinociceptive activity was evaluated by the formalin test and the abdominal contortion assay in mice. The EO (50 and 100 mg/kg) decreased the licking time of both phases of the formalin test when compared to the vehicle, but not to morphine (7.5 mg/kg). In the abdominal contortion assay, the EO (50 and 100 mg/kg) reduced the number of contortions compared to the vehicle and to indometacin (10 mg/kg). The wound healing activity was verified also using two experimental models: excisional wound and dead space. Topical treatment with the EO (1 %) increased the wound contraction from the third day of treatment (compared with nitrofurazone 0.2 %), while systemic treatment (50 mg/kg/day) increased granulation tissue formation and reduced the water content. C. adamantinus EO also showed antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus in disk diffusion method. These results corroborate the ethnobotanical use of this specie by Brazilian population.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank FACEPE (Fundação de Amparo a Ciência do Estado de Pernambuco) for financial support and PADETEC (Parque de Desenvolvimento Tecnológico da Universidade Federal do Ceará). Authors are also grateful to Sidney Ann Pratt for language revision.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Federal University of Ceará, Rua Coronel Nunes de Melo 1315, Fortaleza, CE, 60.430-270, Brazil

    Rafael Matos Ximenes, Roberta Jeane Bezerra Jorge, Monalisa Ribeiro Silva & Glauce Socorro de Barros Viana

  2. Department of Antibiotics, Federal University of Pernambuco, Rua Professor Artur de Sá, s/n, Recife, PE, 50.740-520, Brazil

    Rafael Matos Ximenes, Simone Maria dos Santos, Lucimere Paulino Machado Magalhães, Kêsia Xisto da Fonseca Ribeiro de Sena & Julianna Ferreira Cavalcanti de Albuquerque

  3. Academic Center of Vitória, Federal University of Pernambuco, Rua Alto do Reservatório s/n, Vitória de Santo Antão, PE, 55.608-680, Brazil

    Lenise de Morais Nogueira, Nathalia Maria Rodrigues Cassundé & René Duarte Martins

  4. Department of Chemistry, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Av. Senador Salgado Filho 3000, Natal, RN, 50078-970, Brazil

    Renata Mendonça Araújo

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  1. Rafael Matos Ximenes
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  2. Lenise de Morais Nogueira
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  3. Nathalia Maria Rodrigues Cassundé
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Correspondence to Rafael Matos Ximenes.

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Ximenes, R.M., de Morais Nogueira, L., Cassundé, N.M.R. et al. Antinociceptive and wound healing activities of Croton adamantinus Müll. Arg. essential oil. J Nat Med 67, 758–764 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11418-012-0740-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11418-012-0740-1

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