iological activities and phytochemical profile of Passiflora mucronata rom the Brazilian restinga arlon

In general, Passiflora species have been reported for their folk medicinal use as sedative and antiinflammatory. However, P. caerulea has already been reported to treat pulmonary diseases. Severe pulmonary tuberculosis, generally caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains resistant to multiple drugs, can lead to deleterious inflammation and high mortality, encouraging new approaches in drug discovery. Thus, the aim of this work was to evaluate the Passiflora mucronata Lam. , Passifloraceae, potential for tuberculosis treatment. Specifically, related to antimycobacterial activity and anti-inflammatory related effects (based on inhibition of nitric oxide, tumor necrosis factor-alpha production and antioxidant potential), as well as the chemical profile of P. mucronata. High performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode-array ultraviolet and mass spectrometer analyses of crude hydroalcoholic extract and ethyl acetate fraction showed the presence of flavonoids. Ethyl acetate fraction showed to be as antioxidant as Ginkgo biloba standard extract with EC50 of 14.61 ± 1.25 g/ml. One major flavonoid isolated from ethyl acetate fraction was characterized as isoorientin. The hexane fraction and its main isolated compound, the triterpene -amyrin, exhibited significant growth inhibitory activity against Mycobacterium bovis BCG (MIC 1.61 ± 1.43 and 3.93 ± 1.05 g/ml, respectively). In addition, Passiflora mucronata 50 samples, specially hexane and dichloromethane fractions, as well as pure -amyrin, showed a doserelated inhibition of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide production. In conclusion, Passiflora mucronata presented relevant biological potential and should be considered for further studies using ulosis rasil he CC in vivo pulmonary tuberc © 2017 Sociedade B access article under t ntroduction The Passiflora genus, Passifloraceae, comprises about 520 pecies (Wohlmuth et al., 2010) that are found predominantly in ropical and subtropical regions of the world (Dhawan et al., 2004). ome species, such as Passiflora alata, P. edulis and P. incarnata are nown for their sedative properties and have relevant interest for he food and pharmaceutical industry (Dhawan et al., 2004; Zeraik t al., 2010). ∗ Corresponding author. E-mails: mfmuzitano@macae.ufrj. br, mfmuzitano@gmail.com (M.F. Muzitano). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bjp. 2017.07. 005 102-695X/© 2017 Sociedade Brasileira de Farmacognosia. Published by Elsevier Edit reativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). model. eira de Farmacognosia. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. This is an open BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Several species of Passiflora exhibit biological activity through production of different types of secondary metabolites, especially flavonoids, phenols and alkaloids (Dhawan et al., 2004). The aerial parts of Passiflora caerulea are used in folk medicine as mild antimicrobial agent in diseases like catarrh and pneumonia (Anesini and Perez, 1993). The ethanolic extract of Passiflora incarnata exhibits anti-inflammatory properties at a dose of 125–500 mg/kg in rats (Borrelli et al., 1996). Passiflora edulis leaf extract showed potential antioxidant activity (Sunitha and Devaki, 2009; Silva et al., 2013). Passiflora mucronata Lam. was found as a climbing plant in a tropical sandy coastal plant community, a habitat locally called restinga, in the southeastern state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Garbin et al., 2012). The plant communities around the Atlantic rainforest ora Ltda. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://