title: Antimalarial activity of medicinal plants used in traditional medicine in S. Tomé and Príncipe islands.
abstract: The present study investigates the antimalarial activity of 13 medicinal plants used in traditional medicine in S. Tomé and Príncipe (STP) islands in the Gulf of Guinea, aiming at identifying the most effective plants for further research. Fieldwork was carried out with the collaboration of 37 traditional healers from both islands, during an ethnobotanical study, which was conducted from 1993 to 1999. Our results indicate that the traditional healers in STP use several medicinal plants against fever and/or 'malaria' which reveal strong antiparasitic activity in vitro: four of the plant extracts have evident antiplasmodial activity against chloroquine resistant Plasmodium falciparum, with IC(50) values <10 microg/ml, and also revealed hepatic schizontocidal activity (<5-35 microg/ml). In vivo, the extracts caused partial reduction of Plasmodium berghei parasitaemia in mice.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Farmacognosia, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade de Coimbra, R. Norte, 3000 Coimbra, Portugal. cmdt@esoterica.pt
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: do Céu de Madureira
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Paula Martins
authors.forename: Milene
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gomes
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Paiva
authors.forename: António
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Proença da Cunha
authors.forename: Virgílio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: do Rosário
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000962:Antimalarials / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use / Q000633:toxicity; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; D019448:Ethnobotany; D006169:Guinea-Bissau / Q000208:ethnology; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D020128:Inhibitory Concentration 50; D008288:Malaria / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000469:parasitology; D008519:Medicine, Traditional; D051379:Mice; D008517:Phytotherapy; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use / Q000633:toxicity; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000187:drug effects*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D000962:Antimalarials; D010936:Plant Extracts