Author(s):
Valente, Maria dos Anjos ; Ferreira, Pedro ; Lima, Katelene ; Moreira da Silva, Isabel B. ; Nobre, Paula ; Neto, Isabel ; Pires, Mavilde ; Braz, Berta São ; Serrano, Rita ; Belo, Silvana ; Silva, Olga
Date: 2023
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/163186
Origin: Repositório Institucional da UNL
Subject(s): Angola; antioxidant activity; cercaricidal activity; medicinal plant; Schistosoma mansoni; traditional medicine; vernoamyoside D; Vernonia britteniana; QD Chemistry; QK Botany; QR Microbiology; RM Therapeutics. Pharmacology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Ecology; Plant Science; Parasitology; SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
Description
Funding Information: This research was funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) through national funds FCT/MCTES to iMed.ULisboa (UIDP/04138/2020). Publisher Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.
Vernonia britteniana Hiern. (Asteraceae) is a medicinal plant used in traditional Angolan medicine against schistosomiasis. Our study aimed to investigate the phytochemical composition and the cercaricidal and antioxidant activities in vitro of a traditional herbal preparation (Water-Vbr) and a 70% hydroethanolic extract (EtOH70%-Vbr) prepared with this medicinal plant. The activity of the extracts against Schistosoma mansoni cercariae was assessed at different extract concentrations (500, 438, and 125 µg/mL) and at different time intervals, and the phytochemical profiles were obtained by LC-UV-ESI/MS-MS. In addition, the major chemical classes of the identified metabolites were quantified by colorimetry, and the antioxidant potential was assessed using the DPPH and FRAP methods. After 30 min, 100% cercarial mortality was observed at a concentration of 500 μg/mL after exposure, and after 120 min, an LC50 of 438 μg/mL was observed for both extracts. Phenolic acid derivatives (chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid; 3,4-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid; 3,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid; and 4,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid) and triterpenoids (stigmastane-type steroidal saponins; vernoamyoside D and vernonioside D1; vernoamyoside B; and vernoniamyoside A and C) were identified as the main secondary metabolites. The Water-Vbr extract showed the highest antioxidant activity—DPPH: IC50 = 1.769 ± 0.049 µg/mL; FRAP: mean = 320.80 ± 5.1325 µgAAE/g.
