Tetraglochin andina Ciald.: A medicinal plant from the Argentinean highlands with potential use in vaginal candidiasis

MORENO, MARÍA ALEJANDRA; CÓRDOBA, SUSANA; ZAMPINI, IRIS CATIANA; MERCADO, MARÍA INÉS; PONESSA, GRACIELA; ALBERTO, MARÍA ROSA; NADER-MACIAS, M.E. FATIMA; SAYAGO, JORGE; BURGOS-EDWARDS, ALBERTO; SCHMEDA-HIRSCHMANN, GUILLERMO; ISLA, MARÍA INÉS

JOURNAL OF ETHNOPHARMACOLOGY

ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD

Año: 2018 p. 283 - 294

0378-8741

Ethnopharmacological relevance: The Argentinean medicinal plant Tetraglochin andina Ciald, formerly classifiedas T. cristatum (Britton) Rothm is used in traditional medicine by inhabitants from Argentinean northwesternhighlands (Puna) to treat candidiasis and as anti-inflammatory.Aim of the study: To assess the potential of the crude drug as an anti-Candida agent with anti-inflammatoryproperties. The bioactivity and phytochemical composition of a dry extract of the plant was investigated.Material and methods: The pharmacognostic description of the crude drug is carried out for the first time, includingmacroscopic and microscopic examinations of the different organs, physicochemical and extractivevalues (petroleum ether-, ethanol- and water-soluble). The dry extract from T. andina was evaluated as antifungalagainst pathogenic Candida sp. and Saccharomyces cerevisiae isolated from vaginal infections and referencestrains, by the macrodilution and microdilution assays. The normal vaginal microbiome in women ischaracterized by the dominance of lactic acid-producing bacteria, mainly Lactobacillus spp. The effect of T.andina extract on Lactobacillus strains was also assayed. The inhibitory effect on proinflammatory enzymes(cyclooxygenase, lipoxygenase and phospholipase A2) and antioxidant capacity was studied. The chemicalprofile was analyzed by HPLC-ESI-MS.Results: The hydroalcoholic extract inhibited the growth of all yeasts with Minimal Inhibitory Concentration(MIC) values between 12.5 and 400 μg GAE/mL and the MIC values on Lactobacillus were higher than the MICvalues against Candida isolates (>400 μg GAE/mL). These results indicate that the hydroalcoholic extract couldbe used without affecting the normal microbiota of vaginal fluid. The extract showed antioxidant activity andcould modulate the inflammatory process by three pathways (sPLA2, COX-2, LOX). The plant extract containedhigh total phenolic levels (386.9±1.7 mg GAE/g dry extract) and flavonoid levels (260.4±2.7 mg GAE/g dryextract). Fifty phenolic compounds were identified by HPLC-ESI-MS. They were mainly hydrolysable and condensedtannins. The dry extract was chemically and biologically stable during one year at room temperature or4 °C.Conclusions: The presence of anti-Candida and anti-inflammatory activities in Tetraglochin andina extracts givesupport to their traditional use for treating conditions associated with microorganism infections and inflammatoryprocess in humans. This plant preparation could be used to design phytopharmaceutical preparationsto inhibit yeast growth and moderate the inflammatory and oxidative process.