Research Article
Libidibia ferrea Mature Seeds Promote Antinociceptive
Effect by Peripheral and Central Pathway: Possible Involvement
of Opioid and Cholinergic Receptors
Luis Armando Sawada,
1,2
Vanessa Sâmia da Conçeição Monteiro,
2
Guilherme Rodrigues Rabelo,
3
Germana Bueno Dias,
3
Maura Da Cunha,
3
José Luiz Martins do Nascimento,
1
and Gilmara de Nazareth Tavares Bastos
2
1
Laborat´ orio de Neuroqu´ ımica Molecular e Celular, Instituto de Ciˆ encias Biol´ ogicas, Universidade Federal do Par´ a (UFPA),
Rua Augusto Correa s/n, Guam´ a, 66075-900 Bel´ em, PA, Brazil
2
Laborat´ orio de Neuroinlamac ¸˜ ao, Instituto de Ciˆ encias Biol´ ogicas, Universidade Federal do Par´ a (UFPA), Rua Augusto Correa s/n,
Guam´ a, 66075-900 Bel´ em, PA, Brazil
3
Laborat´ orio de Biologia Celular e Tecidual, Centro de Biociˆ encias e Biotecnologia, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy
Ribeiro (UENF), Avenida Alberto Lamego 2000, Parque Calif´ ornia, 28013-602 Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil
Correspondence should be addressed to Gilmara de Nazareth Tavares Bastos; gbastos2005@hotmail.com
Received 28 November 2013; Revised 4 February 2014; Accepted 2 March 2014; Published 22 April 2014
Academic Editor: Eiichi Kumamoto
Copyright © 2014 Luis Armando Sawada 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.
Libidibia ferrea (LF) is a medicinal plant that holds many pharmacological properties. We evaluated the antinociceptive efect in the
LF aqueous seed extract and Lipidic Portion of Libidibia ferrea (LPLF), partially elucidating their mechanisms. Histochemical tests
and Gas chromatography of the LPLF were performed to characterize its fatty acids. Acetic acid-induced abdominal constriction,
formalin-induced pain, and hot-plate test in mice were employed in the study. In all experiments, aqueous extract or LPLF was
administered systemically at the doses of 1, 5, and 10mg/kg. LF aqueous seed extract and LPLF demonstrated a dose-dependent
antinociceptive efect in all tests indicating both peripheral anti-inlammatory and central analgesia properties. Also, the use of
atropine (5 mg/kg), naloxone (5 mg/kg) in the abdominal writhing test was able to reverse the antinociceptive efect of the LPLF,
indicating that at least one of LF lipids components is responsible for the dose related antinociceptive action in chemical and
thermal models of nociception in mice. Together, the present results suggested that Libidibia ferrea induced antinociceptive activity
is possibly related to its ability to inhibit opioid, cholinergic receptors, and cyclooxygenase-2 pathway, since its main component,
linoleic acid, has been demonstrated to produce such efect in previous studies.
1. Introduction
Libidibia ferrea (LF) is a plant used in folk medicine for
therapeutical purposes. LF is a tree species from the Legu-
minosae family, one of the largest dicotyledon families with
approximately 650 genus, that gathers more than 18,000
species. It is found along all tropical regions in Brazil but
manly in the north and northeast areas [1].
Previous studies identiied many pharmacological prop-
erties of LF, which explain its common use in folk medicine,
for treatment of wounds, bruises, chronic cough, and asthma
[2]. he fruits can be used to treat diabetes and to prevent
cancer. Its extract proved in in vivo tests wound healing [3].
Roots are utilized as antipyretic and treatment of diarrhea. LF
has also demonstrated anticancerogenic, antioxidant, wound
repair, and DNA protection properties [4, 5]. Besides, the
bark is used for enterocolitis, diabetes, and rheumatism
treatment [6].
hus, in the present study, we identiied the main storage
substances and their accumulation sites in Libidibia ferrea
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
BioMed Research International
Volume 2014, Article ID 508725, 10 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/508725