Abstract

VANDRESEN, Fábio et al. Acute toxicity and antiedematogenic activity from stems of Pisonia aculeata L. (Nyctaginaceae). Rev. latinoam. quím [online]. 2013, vol.41, n.2, pp.111-118. ISSN 0370-5943.

Pisonia aculeata L. (Nyctaginaceae) is a shrub widely used in Brazilian folk medicine, where the roots are used as purging and barks and leaves have anti-inflammatory properties. The aim of this study is to evaluate the antiedematogenic activity of crude extract and derived fractions from stems of P. aculeata and the acute toxicity of crude methanolic extract. From methanolic extract from stems of P. aculeata were obtained steroids, triterpenoids and nitrogenous compounds. All fractions tested show inhibitory activity of mice edema ear induced by croton oil, mainly hexane and chloroform fractions. Crude methanolic extract was also active, inhibiting 27.9% of the swelling occasioned by croton oil. In addition, treatment of mice with the crude extract of the stems of P. aculeata in the acute toxicity test did not cause death of animals or change in behavioral parameters, indicating that the extract may be considered non-toxic.

Keywords : Nyctaginaceae; Pisonia aculeata; triterpenes; antiedematogenic activity; acute toxicity.