PARTE UTILIZADA= Used part: La cáscara.

ACCIÓN FARMACOLÓGICA= Pharmacological action: Purgante, anticefalálgico. 

COMPOSICIÓN QUÍMICA= Chemical composition: The essential oils of six Eupatorium species were obtained by hydrodistillation and analysed by GC-MS. The oil of E. macrophyllum was rich in sabinene (46.7%) and limonene (23.3%). The oil of E. laevigatum was mainly constituted by a mixture of aristolone+laevigatin (23.6%), globulol (16.2%) and germacrene D (8.6%). The principal constituents of the oils of the chemotypes A and B of E. squalidum, E. amygdalinum and E. conyzoides were caryophyllene oxide (17.4-30.1%), globulol (25.1%), germacrene D (10.4-21.6%), spathulenol (14.2%) and β-caryophyllene (7.1-12.3%). The oils of the chemotypes A and B of E. marginatum were dominated by α-zingiberene (57.5%), α-gurjunene (19.5%), germacrene D (14.8%), (E)-8-bisabolene (9.7%) and α-selinene (9.0%). © 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. 

ZONA GEOGRÁFICA= Geografical zone: N de Argentina. 

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

Embryological studies indicate Eupatorium laevigatum to have Antennaria type diplospory with precocious embryony. The embryo sac is of the Polygonum type and the polar nuclei fuse before anthesis (maturation of the stamens). Endosperm development is autonomous and the central cell divides only after the initial stages of embryo formation. It is estimated that about 10% of the florets in anthesis contain an undivided egg which can be used for sexual reproduction. The study of microsporogenesis revealed abnormalities in chromosome pairing which result in the formation of univalents, bivalents, trivalents and higher polyvalents, with the consequent production of lagging chromosomes, unbalanced nuclei, micronuclei and sterile pollen. We found that, as represented by the material studied, E. laevigatum is an autohexaploid (2n = 6× = 60) in which each chromosome of a basic set of ten chromosomes is repeated six times and that E. laevigatum is an essentialy obligate apomictic. Copyright by the Brazilian Society of Genetics. 

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

1) As part of a program oriented towards the discovery of bioactive natural products, 44 methanol exts. from 37 Brazilian traditional medicinal plants, most of them commonly used for treating conditions likely to be assocd. with microorganisms, were evaluated for their antibacterial activity and toxicity to brine shrimp.  The agar-well diffusion method was used against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhimurium, Shigella sonnei, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, and Bacillus cereus.  The active exts. were subjected to serial diln. assay for detn. of the minimal inhibitory concn.  Phytochem. anal. of the exts. for their major groups of phytoconstituents is also reported.  Exts. of Baccharis dracunculifolia, Cajanus cajan, Eugenia uniflora, Solanum palinacanthum and Solanum concinnum presented strong antibacterial activity with MIC values below 10 mg/mL for some bacterial strains.  The exts. of Mikania glomerata and Leonurus sibiricus showed significant toxicity against brine shrimp with LC50 values of 63 and 86 mg/mL, resp.

2) In this work the qual. chromatog. profiles of the volatile oil obtained with fresh chopped leaves of Baccharis punctulata, Baccharis dracunculifolia and Eupatorium laevigatum, using HS-SPME were compared with their hydrodistd. oils.  Several Brazilian native plant species have not yet been studied regarding their volatile compds. compn.  Conventional techniques employed for the investigation of volatile compds., such as hydrodistn., may impart chem. changes to the original oil compn.  The use of HS-SPME provides alternative milder extn. conditions, preventing chem. transformations and supplying complementary information about volatiles compn.  Coumarin and coumaran were detected by the first time among volatile components of E. laevigatum leaves after mech. damage, only when using HS-SPME.  Differences and similarities perceived between volatile compds. profiles using both extn. techniques are discussed, showing that they are complementary and may bring insight about fresh leaf volatiles playing infochem. roles and about chem. transformations caused by hydrodistn.

3) Eupatorium laevigatum Lam. is a plant common to the central region of Brazil, where it is a widely used remedy for lesions such as buccal aphthae.  These painful inflammatory ulcers affect 50% of the general population.  For the first part of this two-part study, a phytotherapeutic prepn. from E. laevigatum exts. was formulated into an orabase paste appropriate for use on the buccal mucosa.  The study evaluated the toxicol. safety of this paste in 20 healthy volunteers, as detd. by changes in biochem. and hematol. values and on urinalysis and intrabuccal examn.  The second part of the study was a randomized, double-blind comparison of efficacy with triamcinolone 0.1% orabase in 60 patients.  The healthy volunteers tolerated the phytotherapeutic paste well, and no adverse effects could be attributed to its use.  In the clin. comparison, after 5 days of treatment, 40% of the patients who used the paste and 26.7% of those who used triamcinolone obtained complete cure of the ulcers.  Pain was alleviated in 70% of the phytotherapeutic group and in 33.3% of the triamcinolone group.  The phytotherapeutic paste of E. laevigatum was a safe and effective treatment of buccal aphthae, the most common disease of the buccal mucosa.

1) TOURSARKISSIAN, Martín. Plantas medicinales de Argentina : sus nombres botánicos, vulgares, usos y distribución geográfica.

2) MAIA, J.G.S. Essential oils composition of Eupatorium species growing wild in the Amazon. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology. 2002, vol.30, nº11, p.1071-1077.
 
3) BERTASSO-BORGES, M.S.; COLEMAN, J.R. Cytogenetics and embryology of Eupatorium laevigatum (Compositae). Genetics and Molecular Biology. 2005, vol.28, nº1, p.123-128.
 
4) BOUZADA, Maria L. M., et al. Antibacterial, cytotoxic and phytochemical screening of some traditional medicinal plants in Brazil. Pharmaceutical Biology (London, United Kingdom). 2009, vol.47, nº1, p.44-52.
 
5) SCHOSSLER, Patricia, et al. Volatile compounds of Baccharis punctulata, Baccharis dracunculifolia and Eupatorium laevigatum obtained using solid phase microextraction and hydrodistillation. Journal of the Brazilian Chemical Society. 2009, vol.20, nº2, p.277-287.
 
6) PAULO FILHO, W.; RIBEIRO, J. E. G.; SANTOS PINTO, D. Safety and efficacy of Eupatorium laevigatum paste as therapy for buccal aphthae: randomized, double-blind comparison with triamcinolone 0.1% orabase. Advances in Therapy. 2000, vol.17, nº6, p.272-281.