Antileishmanial and Immunomodulatory Effect of Babassu-Loaded PLGA Microparticles: A Useful Drug Target to Leishmania amazonensis Infection

Effect of Babassu Mesocarp As a Food Supplement During Resistance Training

The population widely uses babassu mesocarp (Attalea speciosa) as food and medicine. This study evaluated the use of babassu mesocarp as a food supplement during resistance training (RT). Male Swiss mice, 60 days old (weight 35-40 g), were divided into four groups (n = 8): control, untreated and untrained; babassu (babassu aqueous extract [BAE]), treated orally with aqueous extract of babassu mesocarp (25 mg/kg), five times a week, for 8 weeks; training (RT), submitted to RT consisting of stair climbing with progressive loads; and resistance training treated with babassu aqueous extract (RTBAE): RT and treatment with BAE. After 8 weeks, we analyzed the biochemistry of serum, the immunological, and histological parameters. The RT group showed maximum strength after the second week. A reduction in body weight, retroperitoneal and interstitial fat deposits, and activated helper T lymphocytes (TCD4+ CD69+) occurred in RT and RTBAE groups. The RTBAE group showed increased levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and macrophage and helper T lymphocyte count, whereas a reduction occurred in triglyceride levels and the total number of lymphocytes. Supplementation with BAE always reduced cholesterol and the population of activated macrophages but increased activated B lymphocytes and interleukin-6 levels. The combination of supplementation and RT resulted in a decreased production of tumor necrosis factor-α. We propose the use of babassu mesocarp as a food supplement during exercise because of its immunomodulatory effect on lymphocyte and macrophage populations and cytokine production. The additional impact on the control of cholesterol and triglyceride levels suggests its use, particularly for the treatment of dyslipidemias.

Elaboration and characterization of biopolymer films with alginate and babassu coconut mesocarp

Biopolymers as films are defined as materials prepared from biological molecules with filmogenic morphology that can be versatile uses. The present research aimed to study formulations of natural polymeric composites based on babassu coconut mesocarp (BCM), alginate and glycerol, to verify the effect of these components on moisture, solubility, thickness and water vapor permeability (WVP) parameters for different cross-linking stages. After a second cross-linking was applied, they presented lower thickness, solubility, and WVP values than first cross-linking. Consecutive analyses for selected film formulations showed that the formulation to solutions of 400 mL with 3g of BCM, 7.5g of alginate and 4.0g of glycerol had the most promising results when correlating physical parameters with thermal analyses, chemical and mechanical properties. Films with amount of babassu coconut mesocarp in the proportion established were sturdy to solubility, leaching and thermal degradation, improved by second cross-linking applied.