Estudo do potencial antioxidante da própolis verde, do artepelin C e do ácido rosmarínico sobre a funcionalidade mitocondrial em células de Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Abstract

Propolis is a complex mixture of resinous, gummy and balsamic substances collected by honeybees from any part of the plant tissue, to which bees are found that feature salivary secretions, wax and pollen for the display of the final product. The phenolic substances that are present in propolis come from the secondary metabolism of plants and refer to approximately 50% of their constituents. Political propolis in the southeastern region (green propolis) has as its main vegetable source the resin collected from buds and young leaves of Baccharis dracunculifolia L., popularly known as rosemary-of-the-field. This plant native to Brazil provides high levels of artepillin C phenolic acid, which is considered a chemical marker for this type of propolis. The antioxidant properties of propolis may be associated with phenolic constituents present in its extracts, such as rosmarinic acid and artepillin C. This work aims to evaluate the antioxidant potential of extracts of green propolis and two of its constituents on a mitochondrial activity such as biological model the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, mainly due to the fact that it has cellular organization similar to eukaryotic cells, is facultative anaerobic and a model organism for the understanding of molecular mechanisms associated with mitochondrial diseases. The results show that both ethanolic and hexane extracts, as well as pure artepillin C substances and strong rosmarinic acid have a good antioxidant potential; Protect cell viability in fermentative (YPD) and non-fermentative (YPGly) media when compared to stressed cells. The hexane extract at a concentration of 100 μg.mL-1, in addition to not being able to protect the cells, presented a certain mitochondrial dysfunction. Treatment with chemicals and extracts was able to not only protect cell membranes, reducing lipid peroxidation, but also to statistically match control cells. The ethanol extract of propolis in 50 μg.mL-1 was the only one that contributed positively to the electron transport chain, increasing oxygen consumption during maximum breathing. The antioxidant action of the substances present in propolis demonstrates that the introduction of these products in the diet, can be beneficial due to the results obtained here, in a eukaryotic cell model.