ESTUDIO PRELIMINAR ETNOBOTÁNICO, FITOQUÍMICO, DE LA ACTIVIDAD CITOTÓXICA Y ANTIMICROBIANA DE CUPHEA AEQUIPETALA CAV. (LYTHRACEAE)

Abstract

The leaves and stems of the Mexican herb
Cuphea aequipetala Cav. have been used
empirically to treat bruises, diarrhea, stomach ailments and goiters; for postpartum or
hip baths; to disinfect wounds; to lower the
fever associated with measles and smallpox;
for tumors and skin wounds of difficult cicatrization; and to counter hair fall. In this work
we showed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids and glycosides in the methanolic
and ethyl acetate extracts of the plant; glucosides were also found in the hexanic extract, whereas sesquiterpene lactones were
only found in the methanolic fraction, which
showed small cytotoxic activity against cervix carcinoma cells (UISO-SQC1). The other
extracts did not show cytotoxic activity
against nasopharingeal (KB) and colon cancer cells (HCT-15, coladcar).
The antimicrobial assays did not exhibit significant inhibition against bacteria and yeast
cultures compared to common antibiotics.
The results showed positive biological ac-
tivity, but we cannot make definitive conclusions about their pharmacological activity without expanding these assays to cover
specimens obtained from different localities
in the country.