title: Antileishmanial and trypanocidal activity of Brazilian Cerrado plants.
abstract: The side effects and the emerging resistance to the available drugs against leishmaniasis and trypanosomiasis led to the urgent need for new therapeutic agents against these diseases. Thirty one extracts of thirteen medicinal plants from the Brazilian Cerrado were therefore evaluated in vitro for their antiprotozoal activity against promastigotes of Leishmania donovani, and amastigotes of Trypanosoma cruzi. Among the selected plants, Casearia sylvestris var. lingua was the most active against both L. donovani and T. cruzi. Fifteen extracts were active against promastigotes of L. donovani with concentrations inhibiting 50% of parasite growth (IC50) between 0.1-10 microg/ml, particularly those of Annona crassiflora (Annonaceae), Himatanthus obovatus (Apocynaceae), Guarea kunthiana (Meliaceae), Cupania vernalis (Sapindaceae), and Serjania lethalis (Sapindaceae). With regard to amastigotes of T. cruzi, extracts of A. crassiflora, Duguetia furfuracea (Annonaceae), and C. sylvestris var. lingua were active with IC50 values between 0.3-10 microg/ml. Bioassay fractionations of the more active extracts are under progress to identify the active antiparasite compounds.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Farmacognosia, Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde, Campus Universitário Darcy Ribeiro, Universidade de Brasília, 70910-900 Brasília, DF, Brazil.
authors.forename: Mariana Laundry de
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Mesquita
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Desrivot
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bories
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fournet
authors.forename: José Elias de
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Paula
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Grellier
authors.forename: Laila Salmen
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Espindola
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001938:Brazil; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; D020128:Inhibitory Concentration 50; D007893:Leishmania donovani / Q000187:drug effects*; D021261:Parasitic Sensitivity Tests; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000145:classification; D014344:Trypanocidal Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts; D014344:Trypanocidal Agents