title: Bruceantin, a potent amoebicide from a plant, Brucea antidysenterica.
abstract: Bruceantin, purified from an Ethiopian plant used to treat dysentery, killed Entamoeba histolytica in vitro (IC50 [the concentration of drug which decreased the number of colonies to half that of controls] = 0.018 microgram/ml). Six related quassinoids of 17 tested were also amoebicidal. No relationship between quassinoid structure and amoebicidal activity was apparent.
mesh_terms: D000563:Amebicides / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000818:Animals; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; D004351:Drug Resistance; D004748:Entamoeba histolytica / Q000187:drug effects*; D005900:Glaucarubin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010616:Phenanthrenes / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D036702:Quassins; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D000563:Amebicides; D010616:Phenanthrenes; D010936:Plant Extracts; D036702:Quassins; D005900:Glaucarubin; C002550:bruceantin