In vitro evaluation of portuguese propolis and floral sources for antiprotozoal, antibacterial and antifungal activity

Propolis is a beehive product with a very complex chemical composition, used since ancient times in several therapeutic treatments. As a contribution to the improvement of drugs against several tropical diseases caused by protozoa, we screened Portuguese propolis and its potential floral sources Populus x Canadensis and Cistus ladanifer against Plasmodium falciparum, Leishmania infantum, Trypanosoma brucei and Trypanosoma cruzi. The toxicity against MRC-5 fibroblast cells was evaluated to assess selectivity. The in vitro assays were performed following the recommendations of WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) and revealed moderate activity, with the propolis extracts presenting the relatively highest inhibitory effect against T. brucei. Additionally, the antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans, Trichophyton rubrum and Aspergillus fumigatus was also verified with the better results observed against T. rubrum. The quality of the extracts was controlled by evaluating the phenolic content and antioxidant activity. The observed biological activity variations are associated with the variable chemical composition of the propolis and the potential floral sources under study.Soraia I. Falcão thanks FCT for the PhD grant SFRH/BD/44855/2008. N. Vale thanks FCT for the Post-Doc grant SFRH/BPD/48345/2008. Thanks also to FCT for financial support provided to CIMO (PEst-OE/ AGR/UI0690/2011) and CIQ-UP (PEst-C/QUI/UI0081/2011). Thanks are due to the National Federation of Portuguese Beekeepers, for supplying propolis samples.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Brazilian Propolis: Correlation Between Chemical Composition and Antimicrobial Activity

The chemical composition of ethanol extracts from samples of Brazilian propolis (EEPs) determined by HPLC and their activity against Trypanosoma cruzi, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Klebisiella pneumoniae, Candida albicans, Sporothrix schenckii and Paracoccidioides brasiliensis were determined. Based on the predominant botanical origin in the region of samples' collection, the 10 extracts were separated into three groups: A (B. dracunculifolia + Auraucaria spp), B (B. dracunculifolia) and C (Araucaria spp). Analysis by the multiple regression of all the extracts together showed a positive correlation, higher concentrations leading to higher biological effect, of S. aureus with p-coumaric acid (PCUM) and 3-(4-hydroxy-3-(oxo-butenyl)-phenylacrylic acid (DHCA1) and of trypomastigotes of T. cruzi with 3,5-diprenyl-4-hydroxycinnamic acid derivative 4 (DHCA4) and 2,2-dimethyl-6-carboxyethenyl-2H-1-benzopyran (DCBEN). When the same approach was employed for each group, due to the small number of observations, the statistical test gave unreliable results. However, an overall analysis revealed for group A an association of S. aureus with caffeic acid (CAF) and dicaffeoylquinic acid 3 (CAFQ3), of S. pneumoniae with CAFQ3 and monocaffeoylquinic acid 2 (CAFQ2) and of T. cruzi also with CAFQ3. For group B, a higher activity against S. pneumoniae was associated DCBEN and for T. cruzi with CAF. For group C no association was observed between the anitmicrobial effect and any component of the extracts. The present study reinforces the relevance of PCUM and derivatives, especially prenylated ones and also of caffeolyquinic acids, on the biological activity of Brazilian propolis

Propolis reduces oxidative stress in L-NAME- induced hypertension rats

WOS: 000332988000004PubMed ID: 23788129The inhibition in the synthesis or bioavailability of nitric oxide (NO) has an important role in progress of hypertension. The blocking of nitric oxide synthase activity may cause vasoconstriction with the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Propolis is a resinous substance collected by honey bees from various plants. Propolis has biological and pharmacological properties. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of propolis on catalase (CAT) activity, malondialdehyde (MDA) and NO levels in the testis tissues of hypertensive rats by N-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME). Rats have received nitric oxide synthase inhibitor (l-NAME, 40mg kg(-1), intraperitoneally) for 15days to produce hypertension and propolis (200mg kg(-1), by gavage) during the last 5days. MDA level in l-NAME-treated group significantly increased compared with control group (P0.01). These results suggest that propolis changes CAT activity, NO and MDA levels in testis of l-NAME-treated animals, and so it may modulate the antioxidant system. Copyright (c) 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Nigde University Research Fund [BAP 2008/25]The Nigde University Research Fund (grant no. BAP 2008/25) is gratefully acknowledged for supporting this work. The authors thank Dr. Ilknur Ozdemir and Dr. Osman Ciftci at Inonu University in Turkey for letting them use their laboratory and Dr. Engin Sahna at Firat University in Turkey for helping in animal research