Chemical Composition and Anti-Inflammatory Activity of the Decoction from Leaves of a Cultivated Specimen of Myracrodruon urundeuva

Myracrodruon urundeuva (Anacardiaceae) is the scienti c designation of “aroeira-do-sertao”, a tree well dispersed at the northeastern Brazil. The medicinal use of this plant is widespread throughout the rural population and the inner trunk bark decoction is used to treat cutaneous affections, urinary and respiratory diseases, and gynecological problems. “Aroeira-do-sertao” has been included in the list of native species under extinction threat. In order to nd a sustainable source of the plant, seedlings have been cultivated. The purpose of this work was to investigate the chemical composition of the decoction from leaves of cultivated plants (aqueous extract from Myracrodruon urundeuva (AEMU)) and its anti-in ammatory activity on human neutrophils. The addition of AEMU on cells suspension inhibited signi cantly its activation/degranulation induced by phorbol myristate acetate. AEMU since at 50 μg mL-1 showed better pattern of inhibitions when related to indomethacin, non- selective cyclooxygenase inhibitor used as reference anti-in ammatory. The decoction fractionation was performed by high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) and semi-preparative high- performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using a phenyl column as the stationary phase, allowing the isolation of 24 compounds. These results showed how the AEMU is rich in bioactive metabolites, which probably contribute for the anti-in ammatory effects of this plant extract, modulating the degranulation of human neutrophils, one of the pro-in ammatory mechanism of these cells.