| Abstrakt: |
Simple Summary: Protium heptaphyllum (P. heptaphyllum), a plant popularly known as "almacega" or "white pitch", has been used for decades in folk medicine, mainly due to its anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties, and is already recognized due to the use of its resin. Given that obesity is considered a worldwide epidemic, associated with chronic low-grade inflammation and increased reactive oxygen species, this study investigated the effects of P. heptaphyllum leaves due to their richness in flavonoids and antioxidant compounds. Using a model of induced obesity in rats, the animals were treated for 28 days with liposomes containing the extract of P. heptaphyllum leaves. The results indicate that the treatment may have therapeutic potential not only against obesity, but also in the regulation of oxidative stress and metabolic and inflammatory parameters, possibly due to the high concentration of flavonoids present in the extract. Protium heptaphyllum (P. heptaphyllum), popularly known as "almacega" or "white pitch", is widely used in folk medicine due to its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and healing properties, attributed to its richness in flavonoids and terpenes. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of treatment for 28 days with liposomes containing P. heptaphyllum leaf extract in obese animals. Male Wistar rats, subjected to a hypercaloric diet for 8 weeks to induce obesity (hypercaloric chow and water enriched with 30% sucrose, ad libitum), were treated with the plant formulation (1 mg kg−1day−1, via gavage) for 28 days. The study investigated morphological, metabolic, redox state, immunological and histological parameters in adipose and liver tissue. Rats were divided into four groups: control (C), liposomes with extract (H), obese (O) and obese treated with liposomes containing extract (OH). The results indicated that the obese group (O) presented weight gain, hepatic steatosis and alterations in metabolic and inflammatory parameters. However, treatment with liposomes (OH) reduced glucose, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), creatinine and the lipid profile. In adipose tissue, the OH group showed decreased superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and increased glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity, in contrast to the effects observed in liver GST. In the analysis of thiobarbituric-acid-reactive substances (TBARS), it was possible to observe an increase in all groups in adipose tissue and in group O in liver tissue, in addition to a reduction in TBARS in group OH in the liver, indicating modulation of oxidative stress. The treatment also increased the concentration of IL-10 and IL-17 in the liver and decreased that of IL-6 in adipose tissue. After 28 days of treatment, these results point to the therapeutic potential of treatment with P. heptaphyllum, not necessarily only against obesity, but also an effect per se of the liposomes, possibly due to the high concentration of flavonoids present in the plant extract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
