Antileishmanial Potential of Tropical Rainforest Plant Extracts

Medicines

Lianet Monzote¹  Abel Piñón¹  William N. Setzer² 

[1] Parasitology Department, Institute of Tropical Medicine “Pedro Kouri”, 10400 Havana, Cuba; E-Mail:;Department of Chemistry, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL 35899, USA; E-Mail:

关键词: leishmaniasis;    Leishmania amazonensis;    Abaco island;    Bahamas;    Matabeleland;    Zimbabwe;    Monteverde;    Costa Rica;    Far North Queensland;    Australia;   

DOI  :  10.3390/medicines1010032

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

A total of 115 different plant extracts from our collection, representing 96 plant species, have been evaluated for in vitro antileishmanial activity against L. amazonensis promastigotes. In addition, the extracts were screened for cytotoxic activity against BALB/c mouse macrophages in order to assess a selectivity index. Crude extracts that showed a selectivity index (CC₅₀ for macrophage / IC₅₀ for promastigotes) ≥ 5 or with IC₅₀ < 12.5 μg/mL against promastigotes, a total of 28 extracts, were further screened for anti-amastigote activity. A total of 25 extracts showed promising activity against L. amazonensis promastigotes with low cytotoxic activity. Ten of these extracts showed selectivity indices, (CC₅₀ for macrophages / IC₅₀ for amastigotes) greater than 10 and are considered “hits”, worthy candidates for further phytochemical exploration: Conostegia xalapensis methanol bark extract, Endiandra palmerstonii bark extract, Eugenia monteverdensis acetone bark extract, Eugenia sp. “fine leaf” acetone bark extract, Exothea paniculata chloroform bark extract, Mallotus paniculatus ethanol bark extract, Matelea pseudobarbata ethanol extract, Quercus insignis ethanol bark extract, Sassafras albidum dichloromethane bark extract, and Stemmadenia donnell-smithii acetone bark extract.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.