Chemical composition and potential antileishmanial and cytotoxic activity of Duguetia stelechantha (Diels) R.E.Fr. essential oil
Introduction
Leishmaniasis affects 1 million of people worldwide every year (Jesus et al., 2021, WHO, 2023). American tegumentary leishmaniasis is a non-contagious infectious disease transmitted to humans through the bite of sandfly females (Phlebotomus and Lutzomya genus) infected by protozoa belonging to the Leishmania genus. Leishmania amazonensis is associated with American tegumentary leishmaniasis, causing skin and mucous membrane ulcers in humans (Lima et al., 2020).
The current arsenal used to treatment leishmaniasis comprises pentavalent antimonials, amphotericin B and its liposomal formulation AmBisome, miltefosine, paromomycin, and pentamidine. However, high toxicity to humans and cases of parasite resistance have led to limitations regarding these therapeutic resources (Neto et al., 2019, Ponte-Sucre et al., 2017), resulting in an urgent search for effective control methods. In this regard, aromatic compounds and terpenes are excellent candidates for antileishmanial drug production. Furthermore, the effects of these compounds can be enhanced when incorporated into certain formulations, such as microemulsions (ME), which are thermodynamically stable and increase the bioavailability of active principles, optimizing biological activity while at the same time reducing compound toxicity.
Duguetia stelechantha (Diels) R.E.Fr. (synonym Aberemoa stelechantha), popularly known as “ata brava”, “envira amarela” and “envirataia” in Brazil, belongs to the Annonaceae family Duguetia genus (SiBBr, 2022). The Duguetia genus, in particular, is very abundant in Brazil, with about 100 species identified to date in the country (Monteiro et al., 2022; Lobão, 2023). D. stelechantha is geographically distributed throughout in the states of Amazonas, Pará, and Rondônia, although it is also non-endemic to Brazil, and found in Colombia and Bolivia (Lobão, 2023; GBIF.org, 2022).
Chemical and biological studies on this species are scarce. In this regard, we postulate that D. stelechantha contains secondary metabolites, such as terpenes, with biotechnological potential, i.e., biological activities that may be employed as a source of new drugs. Furthermore, the effects of these compounds can be enhanced when incorporated into certain formulations, such as microemulsions (ME), which are thermodynamically stable and increase the bioavailability of active principles, optimizing biological activity while at the same time reducing compound toxicity.
In this context, the aim of the present study was to chemically characterize the essential oil (EO-DU) obtained from D. stelechantha for the first time and assess potential antileishmanial action against L. (Leishmania) amazonensis promastigotes and cytotoxicity against RAW 264.7 macrophages of a EO D. stelechantha microemulsion (EO-ME).
Section snippets
Collection of plant material
The plant material of D. stelechantha was collected in São Bento, Maranhão, Brazil, in the Grajaú district (02°43'56.8 "S; 044°51'27.9 "W). The botanical identification of the plant is catalogued at Herbário Rosa Mochel, São Luís, Maranhão, Brazil, under the registration number SLUI005612. This species was collected and registered of according to the National System for the Management of Genetic Heritage and Associated Traditional Knowledge (SisGen) under number AA3D4EE.
Extraction of the essential oil
The leaves of the
Oil composition analysis
The oil yield was 1.37 % and volatile composition of the essential oil (EO) extracted from D. stelechantha are displayed in Table 1. Forty-one volatile EO compounds were identified by GC-MS, comprising about 96.4 % of the total oil composition (Table 1 and Fig. 1S).
A high oil content (1.37 %) was observed in D. stelechantha compared to previous studies conducted with the leaves of other Duguetia species also found in Brazil, such as D. furfuracea (A. St. Hil.) Saff. (0.8 %), D. lanceolata St.
Conclusion
The incorporation of natural products, such as the EO extracted from the leaves of Duguetia stelechantha, in microemulsions optimizes the bioavailability of bioactive principles, improving the potential of biological activities, such as the antileishmania action. The major compounds detected in the EO, α-pinene, β-pinene and spathulenol, showed a moderate effect against Leishmania (L.) amazonensis promastigotes, while the ME, with these more bioavailable compounds, was considered active against
Funding sources
This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001, PROCAD-AM [88887.472618/2019-00 (CQR)] and FAPEMA (Proc.: INFRA-02263/21).
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Auxiliadora C.C. Barata Lope: Methodology, Validation, Investigation, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft. Marcos B.P. Camara: Methodology, Validation, Investigation. Aldilene S. Lima: Conceptualization, Investigation, Writing – review & editing. Matheus Oliveira do Nascimento: Methodology, Validation, Investigation. Júlia Karla A. M. Xavier: Methodology, Validation, Investigation, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft. Caroline M. de Jesus: Methodology, Validation, Investigation.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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