Atividade moluscicida em Biomphalaria glabrata Say: revisão e avaliação do látex de Euphorbia umbellata (Pax) Bruyns (Euphorbiaceae)

Abstract

Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease caused by Schistosoma mansoni Sambon, that needs freshwater snails to complete their cycle. In Brazil, this disease affects thousands of people each year, being the Maranhão one of the states of higher occurrence. According to the World Health Organization, one of the measures need to reduce this disease is the control snails hosts through of the use of products known as molluscicides. Despite of the effectiveness of the use of niclosamide in this control, the high cost and environmental problems arising of this use has stimulated the search for new molluscicides safer, especially those of plant origin. Thus, this study aimed to perform a review of the plants and of the compounds of plant origin tested for the molluscicidal activity in Biomphalaria glabrata Say and analyze the chemical composition, the molluscicidal activity and toxicity of the latex of Euphorbia umbellata (Pax) Bruyns in adult fish species Danio rerio Hamilton-Buchanan. This dissertation was divided into two chapters. The chapter 1 consists of a review of the scientific studies which showed that extracts, fractions and compounds obtained of 200 plant species have already been tested by their molluscicidal activity and that 60, 75 and 95% of these, respectively, were actives according with the criteria established in this work. The chapter 2 aimed to perform a phytochemical screening and tests of toxicity in B. glabrata and D. rerio with the latex of E. umbellata. Phytochemical screening and evaluation of molluscicidal activity of the latex E. umbellata, cultivated plant in the state of Maranhão, revealed the presence of triterpenes and coumarins and high toxicity to B. glabrata. Experiments with D. rerio showed low toxicity of the latex. The results obtained showed the potential of natural products from plants, mainly the latex of E. umbellata, to produce molluscicidal agents that could be used to control of the schistosomiasis. It is expected that this work will contribute to the reduction in the number of cases of this disease in the state of Maranhão and for the preservation of plant studied.