Activity of Passiflora caerulea on gastrointestinal tract

ANZOISE MARÍA LAURA; MARRASSINI CARLA; BACH H.; GORZALCZANY SUSANA

Puerto Varas

Congreso; 14th International Congress of Ethnopharmacology - VIII Simposio Internacional de Quimica de Productos Naturales y sus Aplicaciones; 2014

Sociedad Latinoamericana de Fitoquímica

Passiflora caerulea (Passifloraceae) is a medicinal plant commonly used in traditional medicine in South America as sedative, antispamodic, diuretic, and anti-bacterial agent (1). Since other species belonging to the same family have demonstrated antiinflammatory and antidhiarreal activities (2,3,4), the aim of the present study was analyzed the effect of ethanolic extract of P. caerulea on gastrointestinal tract. The extract non-competitively inhibited the cumulative concentration-response curves induced by acetylcholine and CaCl2 and significantly reduced the maximal response in a concentration?dependent manner, tested at different concentrations (0.1, 0.3, 1 and 3 mg/ml). P. caerulea were effective against castor-oil induced diarrhoea, reducing the induction time of diarrhoea and the amount of semi solid and watery stools. Taking account this information P. Caerulea (125 mg/kg, p.o) was tested on acetic-induced colitis model in rats. The extract decreased colon weight and lesion score, reducing significantly the colonic myeloperoxidase activity (P. Caerulea: 0.53 OD/mg tissue, control group: 0.79 OD/mg tissue) and TBARs levels (P. Caerulea: 1.04 nmol/mg protein, control group: 6.83 nmol/mg protein). The phytochemical analysis indicated that the total phenol content as GAE/g of extract was 61.5 ± 0.17. These results suggest that P. Caerulea produced a protective activity on gastrointestinal tract.