Pharmacokinetic evaluation of the crude extract and secondary metabolites from the leaves of Copaifera langsdorffii Desf.

Abstract

Plants of the genus Copaifera L., popularly known as "copaibeiras" or "pau d'óleo", are native of tropical regions of Latin America and West Africa. The oil-resin obtained through a small incision in the trunk of the tree is a valuable medicine in folk medicine and was recently included as one of the first monographs of Herbal Medicines Form in the Brazilian Pharmacopeia. However, in relation to the aerial parts of the genus Copaifera, there are few studies reporting its chemical composition and biological activities. Moreover, in recent years, our research group has been studying the oil-resin and aerial parts of the Copaifera langsdorffii Desf. and it was observed that the hydroalcoholic extract of leaves showed antilithiatic activity in vivo. Aiming to discover the possible active compounds related to this activity, we isolated and identified some compounds of this plant. Quercetin-3-O-±-L-rhamnopyranoside (quercitrin), 4-methoxy-3-O-galloylquinic acid and C. langsdorffii leaves extract will be studied in the present work, pharmacokinetically, in rats treated with single doses of these compounds. Whereas active compounds should be eliminated renally in order to show antilithiatic activity, it will be investigated the pharmacokinetic behavior of these components in plasma and urine, as well as the identification of possible metabolites by high performance liquid chromatography in tandem (HPLC-MS/MS). The pharmacokinetic parameters will be calculated by WinNonlin software.Keywords: Copaifera langsdorffii, quercitrin, galloylquinic acid, pharmacokinetic, HPLC-MS/MS.