POTENCIAL MEDICINAL DE Lantana camara L. (VERBENACEAE): UMA REVISÃO

A espécie Lantana camara L., camará, pertencente à Família Verbenaceae típica das Américas e África, nativa do Brasil e Uruguai é um arbusto infestante e ornamental, distribuídas por todos os Estados brasileiros. As folhas dessa espécie têm sido utilizadas popularmente no tratamento de coceiras, dor de estômago, dente, reumatismo, cortes, gripe, asma, bronquite e anti-séptico. Este trabalho teve como objetivo analisar os potenciais farmacológicos de L. camara. Conduziu-se este estudo com dados obtidos em uma pesquisa bibliográfica, utilizando principalmente sites de bancos de dados on-line como "Scopus", "Springerlink", "Scielo" e "Doaj". Verificou-se registros na literatura da sua utilização com anti-inflamatória, antibacteriana, antinociceptiva, antimicrobiana, antifúngica, nematicida e inseticida, etc

A INFORMÁTICA COMO INSTRUMENTO NO ENSINO DE BIOLOGIA: ESTUDO DE CASO NA CIDADE DE OURICURI – PE

Uma maneira de obtenção de  melhorias na qualidade de vida dos cidadãos é através do  conhecimento sobre vários assuntos em diversas áreas como: ciência, educação, informática e línguas. O principal percurso é a procura da educação de qualidade, onde a forma de ensino aprendizagem seja cada dia mais estimulada, seja com novas metodologias didáticas ou novos instrumentos que auxiliem tal tarefa. Este estudo teve como objetivo averiguar a visão de docentes de Ciências e Biologia da Cidade de Ouricuri – PE em relação ao que a informática pode respaldar de subsídio no ensino destas disciplinas. Para levantamento de dados houve a aplicação de questionários pré-elaborados aos professores, com questões voltadas ao ensino de biologia frente às novas tecnologias computacionais. Os resultados apontam que os docentes constatam que é necessária a atualização nas metodologias de ensino, principalmente no campo de ciências, visto que esta encontra-se em constantes mudanças, para que seja mais acessível à forma de aprendizagem, levando de uma forma geral ao entendimento de que a informática é uma ferramenta importante para viabilizar o detalhamento de disciplinas com tantas diferenciações, como é o caso da Biologia

Chemical Composition and Antibacterial Activity of the Essential Oil of <em>Mesosphaerum suaveolens</em> (Lamiaceae)

Mesosphaerum suaveolens (Lamiaceae) is a medicinal plant commonly used in Brazil for the treatment of diseases related to the digestive tract and respiratory diseases, so we hypothesized that the essential oil of this species may have antibacterial activity. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the in vitro antibacterial and modulatory activity of the essential oil of M. suaveolens as well as to characterize its chemical composition. The identification of the constituents was performed by gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and the antibacterial and modulating activity by the plate microdilution method. We found the oil had sesquiterpene β-caryophyllene as the major component. This compound may account for the antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus strains, since the essential oil had a MIC of 64 μg/mL for the standard strain and 256 μg/mL for the multiresistant strain, demonstrated that the oil does not exhibit drug modulating activity. Thus, M. suaveolens oil has bioactive compounds which can be used in the preparation of drugs

Antibiotic Potential and Chemical Composition of the Essential Oil of Piper caldense C. DC. (Piperaceae)

Infections by multiresistant microorganisms have led to a continuous investigation of substances acting as modifiers of this resistance. By following this approach, the chemical composition of the essential oil from Piper caldense leaf and its antimicrobial potential were investigated. The antimicrobial activity was determined by broth microdilution method providing values for minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), IC50, and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC). The essential oil was tested as a modulator for several antibiotics, and its effect on the morphology of Candida albicans (CA) strains was also investigated. The chemical characterization revealed an oil composed mainly of sesquiterpenes. Among them are caryophyllene oxide (13.9%), spathulenol (9.1%), &delta;-cadinene (7.6%) and bicyclogermacrene (6.7%) with the highest concentrations. The essential oil showed very low activity against the strains of CA with the lowest values for IC50 and MFC of 1790 &mu;g/mL and 8192 &mu;g/mL, respectively. The essential oil modulated the activity of fluconazole against CA URM 4387 strain, which was demonstrated by the lower IC50 obtained, 2.7 &mu;g/mL, whereas fluconazole itself presented an IC50 of 7.76 &mu;g/mL. No modulating effect was observed in the MFC bioassays. The effect on fungal morphology was observed for both CA INCQS 40006 and URM 4387 strains. The hyphae projection was completely inhibited at 4096 &mu;g/mL and 2048 &mu;g/mL, respectively. Thus, the oil has potential as an adjuvant in antimicrobial formulations

Evaluation of antiparasitary, cytotoxic and antioxidant activity and chemical analysis of Tarenaya spinosa (Jacq.) Raf. (Cleomaceae)

Active principles found in plants may aid in antiparasitic treatments, however it is important to evaluate if they do not have cytotoxicity. The leishmanicidal and trypanocidal activities of Tarenaya spinosa were evaluated, as well as the cytotoxic potential of their extracts, as well as the phytochemical and antioxidant profile. The phytochemical profile was described by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance of Hydrogen (1H-NMR) and High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC-DAD). The antiparasitic activity was performed with the promastigote forms of Leishmania spp. and epimastigotes from Trypanosoma cruzi. Cytotoxicity was assessed using NCTC mammalian clone 929 fibroblasts. The antioxidant potential was assessed with the DPPH free radical. The ethanolic extract (EETS) and aqueous (EATS) presented terpenes, steroids, nitrogen compounds, sugars, phenolic compounds (simple phenylpropanoides and coumarins), flavonoids and chacolnas. The polyphenolic profile showed that caffeic acid was the major compound of both extracts. It was observed that the EETS showed a significant antileishmania activity against L. brasiliensis (LC50 81.75 μg/mL) and L. infantum (LC50 141.6 μg/mL), whereas EATS had low antileishmania activity. Against T. cruzi, the extracts presented LC50 &gt; 1000 μg/mL. The extracts of T. spinosa present high antioxidant activity, with EETS having an IC50 of 377.7 μg/mL and EATS IC50 of 445.8 μg/mL. However, EETS was toxic to fibroblasts with an LC50 of 397.9 μg/mL, whereas no cytotoxicity was observed for EATS. Therefore, EATS is a promising source of antioxidant compounds since it does not present cytotoxicity. © 2019 South African Association of Botanist