Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: PEDRO GUILHERME SOUSA DE SÁ

DEVELOPMENT OF A PHARMACEUTICAL FORM BASED ON Cannabis sativa L. AND EVALUATION OF ITS 

ACTIVITY ANTIULCEROGENIC.

Cannabis; root; ulcer; ethanol; N-trans-feruloyltyramine.

The medicinal use of Cannabis sativa L. has been part of human history since the beginning. However, the plant's psychoactive effects led to it being banned in several countries, and its planting, sale and use repressed by security agencies. However, in recent decades this situation has gradually changed, with countries relaxing legislation and allowing the development of research and medicines based on the plant. In this context, the medicinal use of cannabis has also been gaining ground, including in Brazil, where the plant, which until recently was classified as prohibited, is now authorized to be prescribed under special control. Based on this, the aim of this study was to chemically characterize the extract obtained from the roots of the plant, which is used in folk medicine to treat various health problems. In addition, the gastrointestinal effects of this extract were evaluated in vivo in an acute model of ethanol-induced gastric lesions. To this end, an extract (EAqCs) was obtained by decocting the root powder in ultrapure water and then freeze-drying it. The EAqCs was an alyzed using Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR), 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to a diode array detector (HPLC-DAD) and liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). The data obtained by HPLC-MS was subjected to spectral analysis in the Global Natural Products Social Molecular Networking (GNPS), through which a molecular network was created to identify the substances present in the extract. The results of the chemical analyses carried out suggest the presence of phenolic and nitrogen compounds in the EAqCs. At least three phenolic amides were found in the extract through spectral analysis. One of them, N-trans-feruloyltyramine, was also confirmed in the EAqCs by means of HPLC-DAD. However, at least at the dose evaluated, 50 mg/kg, EAqCs did not show gastroprotective activity against ethanol-induced lesions. Further studies are needed to improve the extraction of compounds that may have a gastroprotective effect.