title: Constituents, antileishmanial activity and toxicity profile of volatile oil from berries of Croton macrostachyus.
abstract: The chemical composition of the volatile oil from berries of Croton macrostachyus Hochst. ex Del. was determined by GC and GC/MS. The oil was tested for its in vitro antileishmanial activity on two Leishmania strains, and its toxicity on the human monocytic leukemia (THP-1) cell line and erythrocytes from sheep blood. The main constituents of the oil were benzyl benzoate (51.8%), linalool (10.1%), gamma-muurolene (9.3%), (E,E)-alpha-farnesene (3.2%), delta-cadinene (2.8%) and alpha-curcumene (2.7%). The oil was effective against L. donovani and L. aethiopica promastigotes (MIC = 0.08 microL/mL and 0.16 microL/mL, respectively) and axenic amastigote stages (EC50 = 20.00 nL/mL and 6.66 nL/mL, respectively). The CC50 value for the oil was 10.00 nL/mL on THP-1 cells with selectivity index values of 0.5 for L. donovani and 1.5 for L. aethiopica. The median lethal concentration (LC50) of the oil was 2.45 microL/mL. Thus the observed high efficacy and moderate toxicity of the volatile oil from C. macrostachyus, makes the plant a promising source of new lead compounds in the search for safe and effective antileishmanial drugs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, College of Natural Science, Jimma University, P.O. Box 378, Jimma, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Yinebeb
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tariku
authors.forename: Ariaya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hymete
authors.forename: Asrat
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hailu
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rohloff
mesh_terms: D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002460:Cell Line; D029802:Croton / Q000737:chemistry*; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D007891:Leishmania / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects*; D009822:Oils, Volatile / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents; D009822:Oils, Volatile; D010938:Plant Oils