Zootherapy in the Amazon: green anaconda ( Eunectes murinus ) fat as a natural medicine to treat wounds
Zootherapy (the use of the therapeutic potential of animals) is at least 6,000 years old, and has been kept active throughout generations until modern days. Animal fat is commonly used in the zootherapeutic folk medicine from South America, specially the green anaconda's fat, which is widely promote...
| Autor principal: | Souza, Erika |
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| Outros Autores: | Werneck, Fernanda P., Matos, Leonardo B., Fraga, Rafael de |
| Grau: | Artigo |
| Idioma: | English |
| Publicado em: |
Acta Amazonica
2020
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https://repositorio.inpa.gov.br/handle/1/13324 |
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oai:repositorio:1-13324 |
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oai:repositorio:1-13324 Zootherapy in the Amazon: green anaconda ( Eunectes murinus ) fat as a natural medicine to treat wounds Zooterapia amazônica: uso de gordura de sucuri ( Eunectes murinus ) como cicatrizante natural Souza, Erika Werneck, Fernanda P. Matos, Leonardo B. Fraga, Rafael de Ethnozoology Folk Medicine Snakes Wistar Etnozoologia Medicina Popular Serpentes Wistar Zootherapy (the use of the therapeutic potential of animals) is at least 6,000 years old, and has been kept active throughout generations until modern days. Animal fat is commonly used in the zootherapeutic folk medicine from South America, specially the green anaconda's fat, which is widely promoted as a natural medicine to treat wounds, even though there is no scientific evidence showing its efficacy. In this study we compared the total healing time and the proportional daily reduction of dorsal epithelial incisions in adult male Wistar rats treated with nitrofural (a commercial cicatrizing ointment) and with anaconda fat. We applied the treatments every two days and measured the incision diameter daily, during ten consecutive days. Differences among the groups in the total healing time and in the proportional daily reduction of the incision consistently showed that the fat-based treatment resulted in a faster healing process compared to the commercial ointment tested. The literature suggests that the efficacy of animal fat on healing may be primarily related to the presence of fatty acids, which have been widely demonstrated to be important for biochemical reactions involved in healing processes. Our findings are widely socially relevant, considering that traditional Amazonian communities that use anaconda fat in folk medicine do not have easy access to pharmacies and hospitals. Práticas ancestrais de zooterapia (uso das potencialidades terapêuticas da fauna) existem há pelo menos 6000 anos, e têm sido mantidas ao longo de gerações até os tempos modernos. Gordura de animais é comumente utilizada na zooterapia tradicional da América do Sul, e a gordura de serpentes sucuris é amplamente comercializada como cicatrizante natural, embora não existam evidências científicas que mostrem sua eficácia terapêutica. Neste estudo comparamos o tempo de cicatrização epitelial total e a redução proporcional diária de uma incisão dorsal em ratos Wistar machos adultos, entre um grupo controle, um grupo tratado com nitrofural (uma pomada cicatrizante comercial) e um grupo tratado com gordura de sucuri. Nós aplicamos os tratamentos a cada dois dias e medimos o diâmetro da incisão diariamente por dez dias consecutivos. Diferenças entre os grupos no tempo de cicatrização total e na redução proporcional diária da incisão consistentemente mostraram que gordura de sucuri teve ação cicatrizante mais eficiente que a pomada comercial testada. A literatura sugere que a eficácia de gordura animal em processos de cicatrização pode estar principalmente relacionada à presença de ácidos graxos, os quais têm sido amplamente demonstrados como importantes para reações bioquímicas envolvidas em processos de cicatrização. Os resultados têm ampla relevância social, considerando que as comunidades tradicionais amazônicas que utilizam a gordura de sucuris como zooterápico não têm acesso fácil a farmácias e hospitais. 2020-04-24T15:19:41Z 2020-04-24T15:19:41Z 2017 Artigo https://repositorio.inpa.gov.br/handle/1/13324 10.1590/1809-4392201702202 en Volume 47, Número 4, Pags. 341-348 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Brazil http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/br/ application/pdf Acta Amazonica |
| institution |
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia - Repositório Institucional |
| collection |
INPA-RI |
| language |
English |
| topic |
Ethnozoology Folk Medicine Snakes Wistar Etnozoologia Medicina Popular Serpentes Wistar |
| spellingShingle |
Ethnozoology Folk Medicine Snakes Wistar Etnozoologia Medicina Popular Serpentes Wistar Souza, Erika Zootherapy in the Amazon: green anaconda ( Eunectes murinus ) fat as a natural medicine to treat wounds |
| topic_facet |
Ethnozoology Folk Medicine Snakes Wistar Etnozoologia Medicina Popular Serpentes Wistar |
| description |
Zootherapy (the use of the therapeutic potential of animals) is at least 6,000 years old, and has been kept active throughout generations until modern days. Animal fat is commonly used in the zootherapeutic folk medicine from South America, specially the green anaconda's fat, which is widely promoted as a natural medicine to treat wounds, even though there is no scientific evidence showing its efficacy. In this study we compared the total healing time and the proportional daily reduction of dorsal epithelial incisions in adult male Wistar rats treated with nitrofural (a commercial cicatrizing ointment) and with anaconda fat. We applied the treatments every two days and measured the incision diameter daily, during ten consecutive days. Differences among the groups in the total healing time and in the proportional daily reduction of the incision consistently showed that the fat-based treatment resulted in a faster healing process compared to the commercial ointment tested. The literature suggests that the efficacy of animal fat on healing may be primarily related to the presence of fatty acids, which have been widely demonstrated to be important for biochemical reactions involved in healing processes. Our findings are widely socially relevant, considering that traditional Amazonian communities that use anaconda fat in folk medicine do not have easy access to pharmacies and hospitals. |
| format |
Artigo |
| author |
Souza, Erika |
| author2 |
Werneck, Fernanda P. Matos, Leonardo B. Fraga, Rafael de |
| author2Str |
Werneck, Fernanda P. Matos, Leonardo B. Fraga, Rafael de |
| title |
Zootherapy in the Amazon: green anaconda ( Eunectes murinus ) fat as a natural medicine to treat wounds |
| title_short |
Zootherapy in the Amazon: green anaconda ( Eunectes murinus ) fat as a natural medicine to treat wounds |
| title_full |
Zootherapy in the Amazon: green anaconda ( Eunectes murinus ) fat as a natural medicine to treat wounds |
| title_fullStr |
Zootherapy in the Amazon: green anaconda ( Eunectes murinus ) fat as a natural medicine to treat wounds |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Zootherapy in the Amazon: green anaconda ( Eunectes murinus ) fat as a natural medicine to treat wounds |
| title_sort |
zootherapy in the amazon: green anaconda ( eunectes murinus ) fat as a natural medicine to treat wounds |
| publisher |
Acta Amazonica |
| publishDate |
2020 |
| url |
https://repositorio.inpa.gov.br/handle/1/13324 |
| _version_ |
1787141290020831232 |
| score |
11.755432 |