PARTE UTILIZADA= Used part: Hojas.

ACCIÓN FARMACOLÓGICA= Pharmacological action: Expectorante.

POSOLOGÍA= Posology: Se emplea la infusión de las hojas, que puedeendulzarse con miel, como expectorante. Jarabe con las hojas, decocción al 10 % ; también puede usarse la infusión al 1%.

COMPOSICIÓN QUÍMICA= Chemical composition: Se citan alcaloides, saponinas y flavonoides en hojas y tallos. 

ZONA GEOGRÁFICA= Geografical zone: Uruguay. 

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) A review.  Historically, the majority of new drugs have been generated from natural products as well as from compds. derived from natural products.  In this context, Mikania laevigata and M. glomerata, popularly known as 'guaco', have a long history of use.  Brazilian Indians have an ancient tradition of using 'guaco' for snakebites.  In current herbal medicine in Brazil, 'guaco' is used as an effective natural bronchodilator, expectorant and cough suppressant employed for all types of upper respiratory problems including bronchitis, pleurisy, colds and flu, coughs and asthma.  In Brazil, this plant has been widely used, even as com. prepns.  Its medicinal properties are widely recognized, mainly in the treatment of inflammatory conditions, bronchodilator activity, anti-ulcerogenic, antiophidian as well as antibacterial and antiparasitic activity, although the efficacy of the antibacterial activity is so far controversial.  The studies on Mikania glomerata and M. laevigata have provided scientific evidence that those plants have a considerable anti-inflammatory therapeutic potential.

2) Adulterations of plant raw materials often occur on the herbal medicine markets, usually in the form of substitutions and/or fakes.  Often different plant species are sold in place of the one recognized by the pharmacopoeia.  This may be due to difficulties in obtaining the authentic plant material or intentional use of a plant species with less economic value, but similar morphol. features.  It is necessary to study the identity and chem. compn. of herbal species with wide medicinal use, which are common targets of adulterations.  Mikania glomerata and M. laevigata known as "guaco" are sold in Brazil.  Phytochem. screening by thin-layer chromatog. (TLC) was done to evaluate the chem. compn. of both species.  The chromatog. profiles and coumarin contents were detd. by reversed-phase HPLC.  The phytochem. screening found coumarin, triterpenes/steroids, and flavone heterosides in both species.  The RP-HPLC profiles were similar in the 2 species and revealed the dominance of polar compds.  The coumarin content was 0.30% in M. glomerata and 0.43% in M. laevigata (dry matter basis).  These values agreed with the contents ³0.1% described for the "guaco-cheiroso" herb in the Brazilian Pharmacopoeia.  Thus, the results indicated similar chem. profiles and comparable coumarin contents in M. glomerata and M. laevigata, thus suggesting that the 2 species may be used indistinctly.

3) The Mikania genus is widely known as guaco and is used to treat fever, rheumatism, influenza and respiratory diseases.  This article deals with the simultaneous quantification of 3 com. available phenolic markers (o-coumaric acid, coumarin and syringaldehyde) in M. laevigata exts., through LC-PDA.  The validation data show that the method is specific, accurate, precise and robust, and also indicative of the stability of guaco ext.  The method was linear, over a range of 1.25-20.0 mg/mL-1 for o-coumaric acid, 2.5-40.0 mg/mL-1 for coumarin, and 0.25-4.0 mg/mL-1 for syringaldehyde.  The range of recovery was 94.3-96.4% for all the components, at a level of 100%.

1) ALONSO PAZ, Eduardo ; BASSAGODA, María Julia ; FERREIRA, Fernando. Yuyos: uso racional de las plantas medicinales. Montevideo : Fin de siglo, 1992, p. 55.

2) NAPIMOGA, Marcelo H.; YATSUDA, Regiane. Scientific evidence for Mikania laevigata and Mikania glomerata as a pharmacological tool. Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology. 2010, vol.62, nº7, p.809-820.
 
3) BOLINA, Ricardo C.; GARCIA, Eliana de F.; DUARTE, Maria Gorette R. Comparative study of chemical composition of the plant species Mikania glomerata Sprengel and Mikania laevigata Schultz Bip. ex Baker. Revista Brasileira de Farmacognosia. 2009,vol.19, nº1B, p.294-298.
 
4) MUCENEEKI, Rodrigo S.; et al. A Simple and Validated LC Method for the Simultaneous Determination of Three Compounds in Mikania laevigata Extracts.  Chromatographia. 2009, vol.69, nºSuppl. 2, p.S219-S223.