Journal of Ethnopharmacology 107 (2006) 19–24 Pharmacological activities investigation of crude extracts and fractions from Qualea grandiflora Mart. F.O.G. Gaspi a,∗ , M.A. Foglio b , J.E. Carvalho b , R.A. Moreno c a Faculdade de Farm´ acia do Centro Universit´ ario Herm´ ınio Ometto (UNIARARAS),Av. Dr. Maximiliano Baruto, 500, Jardim Universit´ ario, 13607-339 Araras, SP, Brazil b Centro Pluridisciplinar de Pesquisas Qu´ ımicas, Biol ´ ogicas e Agr´ ıcolas (CPQBA-UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil c Faculdade de Ciˆ encias M´ edicas-Sub-Comiss˜ ao de P ´ os-Gradua¸ c˜ ao em Farmacologia (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil Received 10 May 2005; received in revised form 18 January 2006; accepted 28 January 2006 Available online 29 March 2006 Abstract This study investigates pharmacological activities of crude hydroalcoholic extract and fractions of Qualea grandiflora Mart. leaves employing different experimental models using mice. The treatment with crude hydroalcoholic extract (EH) in a dose of 500 mg/kg, i.p. caused: signs of central nervous system depressant action in the Hippocratic screening test, confirmed by the potentiation of sodium pentobarbital sleeping time. Increasing in the latency time of hot plate assay that indicate an analgesic effect; significantly delaying of the onset of clonic PTZ convulsions, increasing in the time for death, suppressing of the tonic PTZ convulsion, and decreasing of severity and number of convulsions. The median lethal dose of EH was 1.321 mg/kg. The convulsions induced by PTZ, ethyl ether fraction (300 mg/kg, i.p.) was more active in increasing the latency time for first convulsion, moreover, the hexane fraction, at the same dose, was more active in increasing the time for death and/or avoiding the death. Both did not cause disturbance in motor coordination at the dose of 500 mg/kg, assessed by rotarod test. These results suggest that the crude extract of leaves of Qualea grandiflora Mart. has a central nervous system depressant action, an analgesic effect and behave as a potential anticonvulsant. © 2006 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Qualea grandiflora; Vochysiaceae; Anticonvulsants; Medicinal plant 1. Introduction Qualea grandiflora Mart. (Vochysiaceae) is a tree, symbol of Brazilian Cerrado, widely found in these regions (Silva et al., 2002). This specie have many popular names such as pau- terra-de-folha-larga, pau-terra-do-campo, pau-terra-do-cerrado and is about 5 m tall, yellow flowers and triangular fruits (Correa, 1978; Joly, 1993). The Cerrado, known as Brazilian savanna, comprises a very rich and characteristic flora that covers more than 2 million square kilometers of Brazilian inland. Many of these plants are used in folk medicine to treat several tropical diseases (Alves et al., 2000). The infusion or decoction of the Abbreviations: CNS, central nervous system; EH, crude hydroalcoholic extract; FE, ethyl ether fraction; FH, hexane fraction; FA, aqueous fraction; GABA, gamma-aminobutyric acid; i.p., intraperitoneal; Mart., Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius; PTZ, pentylenetetrazol ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +55 19 3541 7950; fax: +55 19 3541 7950. E-mail addresses: fernandagaspi@uniararas.br, fergaspi@ig.com.br (F.O.G. Gaspi). Qualea grandiflora leaves have been usually to treat the diarrhea with blood, the intestinal colic and against amoeba (Rodrigues and Carvalho, 2001). The methanolic extract of the bark of this plant was studied (Alves et al., 2000) and possessed antibacte- rial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Despite the pharmacological effects of the extracts of their leaves have never been studied. There- fore, the present work was undertaken to evaluate the effects of the crude hydroalcoholic extract and fractions of this important Brazilian plant species on different experimental animal models using mice. 2. Material and methods 2.1. Plant material and crude extract preparation The leaves of Qualea grandiflora were collected at “Reserva Biol´ ogica e Estac ¸˜ ao Experimental de Mogi Guac ¸u”inS˜ ao Paulo- Brazil by both botanist Prof a . Dr. a M. Carmo E. do Amaral 0378-8741/$ – see front matter © 2006 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2006.01.023