title: Antimycobacterial neolignans isolated from Aristolochia taliscana.
abstract: Tuberculosis (TB - Mycobacterium tuberculosis) is an ancient infectious disease that has appeared once again as a serious worldwide health problem and now comprises the second leading cause of death resulting from a single infection. The prevalence of multidrug resistance (MDR) TB is increasing and therapeutic options for treatment are not always accessible; in fact, some patients do not respond to the available drugs. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop novel anti-TB agents. The aim of the present study was to screen extracts of Aristolochia taliscana, a plant used in traditional Mexican medicine to treat cough and snake bites, for antimycobacterial activity. The hexanic extract of A. taliscana was tested by microdilution alamar blue assay against Mycobacterium strains and bioguided fractionation led to the isolation of the neolignans licarin A, licarin B and eupomatenoid-7, all of which had antimycobacterial activity. Licarin A was the most active compound, with minimum inhibitory concentrations of 3.12-12.5 microg/mL against the following M. tuberculosis strains: H37Rv, four mono-resistant H37Rv variants and 12 clinical MDR isolates, as well as against five non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) strains. In conclusion, licarin A represents a potentially active anti-TB agent to treat MDR M. tuberculosis and NTM strains.
authors.affiliation: Unidad Investigación Médica en Farmacología de Productos Naturales, Cuauhtémoc, México DF, México.
authors.forename: Rosalba
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: León-Díaz
authors.forename: Mariana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Meckes
authors.forename: Salvador
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Said-Fernández
authors.forename: Gloria Maria
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Molina-Salinas
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vargas-Villarreal
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Torres
authors.forename: Julieta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luna-Herrera
authors.forename: Adelina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jiménez-Arellanes
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D030022:Aristolochia / Q000737:chemistry*; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D017705:Lignans / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008800:Mexico; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D009161:Mycobacterium / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D017705:Lignans; D010936:Plant Extracts