Antimalarial activity of herbal extracts used in traditional medicine in Korea.
Aqueous extracts of 6 traditional Korean medicines used to treat malaria were tested in vitro for their antimalarial activity against Plasmodium falciparum. The EC50 values for the herbal extracts were in the range 1.4-8.1 microg/ml. Significant antimalarial activity was observed with Coptis japonica (EC50=1.4 microg/ml), but it demonstrated no selective toxicity (selectivity=1). In contrast, Kalopanax pictus showed antimalarial activity (EC50=4.6 microg/ml) and higher selective toxicity (>4). This indicated that K. pictus may be potent for a new antimalarial agent.
Department of Parasitology, College of Medicine, Wonkwang University, Iksan, Korea.
Hyun
H
Park
Myung Soo
MS
Kim
Byung Hun
BH
Jeon
Tae Kyun
TK
Kim
Yong Man
YM
Kim
Joohong
J
Ahnn
Dong-Yeul
DY
Kwon
Yoshiaki
Y
Takaya
Yusuke
Y
Wataya
Hye-Sook
HS
Kim
D000818:Animals; D000962:Antimalarials / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D008518:Medicine, East Asian Traditional; D051379:Mice; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D028321:Plant Preparations / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development
D000962:Antimalarials; D010936:Plant Extracts; D028321:Plant Preparations