title: Screening and HPLC-Based Activity Profiling for New Antiprotozoal Leads from European Plants.
abstract: Based on a survey of remedies used in Renaissance Europe to treat malaria, we prepared and screened a library of 254 extracts from 61 plants for antiplasmodial activity in vitro. HPLC-based activity profiling was performed for targeted identification of active constituents in extracts. One of the most remarkable results was the identification of onopordopicrin, a germacranolide sesquiterpene lactone isolated from Arctium nemorosum as a potent inhibitor of P. falciparum with an IC(50) of 6.9 μM. It was tested similarly against Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense, the parasite which causes African sleeping sickness. With an IC(50) of 0.37 μM, onopordopicrin was one of the most potent natural products reported so far. Cytotoxicity was determined against rat myoblast L6 cells (IC(50): 3.06).
authors.affiliation: Departement of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Pharmaceutical Biology, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 50, 4056, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zimmermann
authors.forename: Semira
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thomi
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaiser
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hamburger
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Adams