PARTE UTILIZADA= Used part: Hojas.

ACCIÓN FARMACOLÓGICA= Pharmacological action: Externamente en inflamaciones, heridas y ulceraciones.

ZONA GEOGRÁFICA= Geografical zone:Brasil, Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay y Bolivia.

DIVERSIDAD GENÉTICA Y MEJORAMIENTO DE PLANTAS MEDICINALES= Medicinal plants and improvement of medicinal herbs

Hypotheses on the origin of the current distribution patterns and bicontinental disjunctions of Cordiaceae, Ehretiaceae, and Heliotropiaceae (Primarily Woody Boraginales) are tested by pairwise comparison of Kimura two-parameter distances. Estd. abs. dates of fossils and geol. events (plate tectonics, climate changes) were used to calibrate a mol. clock. A mid-Cretaceous origin of the Primarily Woody Boraginales is proposed with an initial diversification in South America. Plate tectonics appear to play a minor role in their phylogeog. Most disjunctions are best explained by the rare events of long-distance dispersal because of the widespread occurrence of drupaceous fruits and their potential for endozoochoria. Furthermore, migrations and extinctions might have played a considerable role in the formation of the current distribution patterns.

ÚLTIMOS AVANCES EN LA QUÍMICA Y ACTIVIDADES BACTERIOLÓGICAS EN LAS PLANTAS MEDICINALES= Medicinal plants, last advances on chemistry and bacteria activities on the medicinal herbs

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Preparation from leaves of Cordia americana have been widely used in traditional medicine in South Brazil to treat wounds and various inflammations.  AIM OF THE STUDY: The objective of this work was to identify the effective compounds in the ethanolic extract prepared from the leaves of Cordia americana, which is used in traditional South Brazilian medicine as anti-inflammatory and wound healing remedy.  MATERIALS AND METHODS: Isolation and structure elucidation techniques were performed in order to identify the compounds of Cordia americana and HPLC analysis was used for the quantification.  The major constituent and the ethanolic extract were investigated for inhibition of 5-lipoxygenase, p38alpha MAPK, TNFalpha release and NF-kappaB as well as in the fibroblast scratch assay.  RESULTS: Rosmarinic acid (1) was identified as the major compound with an amount of 8.44% in the ethanolic extract of the leaves of Cordia americana.  The ethanolic extract as well as (1) exhibited the highest inhibitory effects on 5-lipoxygenase (IC(50)=0.69 and 0.97microg/mL, resp., IC50 of BWA4C as reference: 0.3microM) and p38alpha (IC50=3.25 and 1.16microg/mL, resp., IC50 of SB203580 as reference: 0.046microM) and moderate inhibitory effects on TNFalpha release.  Slight effects were observed in the fibroblast scratch assay.  CONCLUSIONS: This study increases our knowledge on the effective compound in Cordia americana and supports its use in traditional medicine.  We demonstrated for the first time pharmacological effects of Cordia americana and we provide evidences for a crucial role of rosmarinic acid as the major key player.  Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

1) OLIVEIRA SIMOES, Claudia María, et al.  Plantas da medicina popular no Rio Grande do Sul.  Porto Alegre : UFGRS, 1986. p.90-91.

2) Gottschling, Marc; Diane, Nadja; Hilger, Hartmut H.; Weigend, Maximilian. Testing hypotheses on disjunctions present in the primarily woody boraginales: Ehretiaceae, Cordiaceae, and Heliotropiaceae, inferred from ITS1 sequence data. International Journal of Plant Sciences . 2004, vol.165, nº4, p.123-135.

3) Geller F; Schmidt C; Gottert M; Fronza M; Schattel V; Heinzmann B; Werz O; Flores E M M; Merfort I; Laufer S. Identification of rosmarinic acid as the major active constituent in Cordia americana. Journal of Ethnopharmacology . 2010, vol.128, nº3, p.561-566.