Research Article
Topical Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Oil from
Tropidurus hispidus (Spix, 1825)
Israel J. M. Santos,
1
Gerlânia O. Leite,
2
José Galberto M. Costa,
3
Romulo R. N. Alves,
4,5
Adriana R. Campos,
6
Irwin R. A. Menezes,
7
Francisco Ronaldo V. Freita,
8
Maria Janeth H. Nunes,
9
and Waltécio O. Almeida
1
1
Laboratory of Zoology, Regional University of Cariri (URCA), Pimenta, 63105-000 Crato, CE, Brazil
2
Program of Post-Graduation in Pharmacology, Federal University of Santa Maria, Campus Camobi,
97105-900 Santa Maria, RS, Brazil
3
Laboratory of Natural Products Research, Regional University of Cariri (URCA), Pimenta, 63105-000 Crato, CE, Brazil
4
Department of Biology, Paraiba State University (UEPB), 58429-500 Jo˜ ao Pessoa, PB, Brazil
5
Programa de P´ os Graduac ¸˜ ao em Etnobiologia e Conservac ¸˜ ao da Natureza, Departamento de Ciˆ encias Biol´ ogicas,
Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros s/n, Dois Irm˜ aos, 52171-900 Recife, PE, Brazil
6
Universidade de Fortaleza, Avenida Washington Soares 1321, 60811-905 Fortaleza, CE, Brazil
7
Laboratory of Pharmacology and Medicinal Chemistry, Regional University of Cariri (URCA), Pimenta, 63105-000 Crato, CE, Brazil
8
Laboratory of Carcinology, Regional University of Cariri (URCA), Pimenta, 63105-000 Crato, CE, Brazil
9
Department of Nursing, Regional University of Cariri, 63105-000 Crato, CE, Brazil
Correspondence should be addressed to Israel J. M. Santos; graojunio@yahoo.com.br
Received 23 July 2015; Revised 23 September 2015; Accepted 28 October 2015
Academic Editor: Bamidele Owoyele
Copyright © 2015 Israel J. M. Santos et al. his is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly
cited.
Tropidurus hispidus has been used in traditional medicine in several regions of Northeastern Region of Brazil. Its medicinal use
involves the treatment of diseases such as warts, sore throat, tonsillitis, chicken pox, varicella, measles, asthma, alcoholism, and
dermatomycosis. he present study evaluated the topical anti-inlammatory activity of Tropidurus hispidus fat in treating ear edema
in an animal model. Oil from T. hispidus (OTH) was evaluated on its efect against experimental inlammation in mice. OTH was
extracted from body fat located in the ventral region of Tropidurus hispidus using hexane as a solvent. We used the model of mouse
ear edema induced by phlogistic agents, croton oil (single and multiple applications), arachidonic acid, phenol, capsaicin, and
histamine, applied into the right ears of animals pretreated with acetone (control), dexamethasone, or OTH. OTH inhibited the
dermatitis induced by all noxious agents, except capsaicin. his efect may be related to the fatty acids present in OTH.
1. Introduction
he term “Zootherapy” refers to the use of animals and prod-
ucts derived from animals for the treatment of diseases and
health conditions [1]. In modern society, zootherapy consti-
tutes an important alternative among many other practiced
therapies in the whole world [2, 3]. he high biological and
cultural diversity of Brazil translates into a richness of knowl-
edge and traditional practices including the use of animals
for medicinal purposes. According to Ferreira et al. [4], a
high number of species are used for the treatment of diseases.
Alves et al. [5] reported that at least 354 species of medicinal
animals are used in Brazil, of which 96% are captured in the
ield and 21% are mentioned on one or more lists of animals
at risk of extinction.
Despite the frequent use of zootherapeutic products in
Brazilian traditional medicine, there are still few laboratory
studies examining their eicacy [6, 7]. Body fat (lard) and skin
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Volume 2015, Article ID 140247, 7 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/140247