EFEITOS DO MESOCARPO DE BABAÇU (Orbignya phalerata, Mart.) SOBRE A BIOQUÍMICA SANGÜÍNEA EM ANIMAIS COM TUMOR DE EHRLICH

Abstract

The babassu mesocarp (Orbignya phalerata, Arecaceae) is popularly used in Maranhão, northeast of Brazil, as food and as medicine. It was the aim of this work to evaluate the effect of the babassu mesocarp extract (BME) on the biochemical parameters in mice bearing Ehrlich Ascitic tumor. C3H/HePas (N = l0 for group) with age of 120 and 240 days, were treated orally with BME (2mg/mL) during 15 or 30 days. At the end of this period the animals received, by intraperitoneal route, l06 cells of Ehrlich tumor. The animals were sacrificed ten days after the tumor implantation, when it was obtained the serum and the tumoral cells. The total number of tumoral cells was quantified in Neubauer chamber with aid of an optic microscope. The concentration of cholesterol, LDL, HDL, VLDL, triglicérides, total proteins and albumin was determined in serum, by colorimetric assay. The oral treatment with BME significantly increases on the number of tumoral cells. BME also affect the lipidic profile due to a strong reduction on the concentration of total cholesterol and HDL, LDL fractions. It was also observed a significant increase on the triglycerides concentration. Besides, the values of VLDL and total proteins were larger than the control in animals treated with EAB. Based on this, it is reasonable to propose that the reduction of cholesterol seems to be increased the tumor virulence. Additionally it was observed that BME induced a variable effect on blood biochemistry. Those results altogether makes BME unfeasible for using in the treatment of tumors with the same characteristics of the Ehrlich ascitic tumor.