title: Strychnos pseudoquina and Its Purified Compounds Present an Effective In Vitro Antileishmanial Activity.
abstract: The development of new and cost-effective alternative therapeutic strategies to treat leishmaniasis has become a high priority. In the present study, the antileishmanial activity of Strychnos pseudoquina St. Hil. was investigated and pure compounds that presented this biological effect were isolated. An ethyl acetate extract was prepared, and it proved to be effective against Leishmania amazonensis. A bioactivity-guided fractionation was performed, and two flavonoids were identified, quercetin 3-O-methyl ether and strychnobiflavone, which presented an effective antileishmanial activity against L. amazonensis, and studies were extended to establish their minimum inhibitory concentrations (IC50), their leishmanicidal effects on the intra-macrophage Leishmania stage, as well as their cytotoxic effects on murine macrophages (CC50), and in O+ human red blood cells. The data presented in this study showed the potential of an ethyl acetate extract of S. pseudoquina, as well as two flavonoids purified from it, which can be used as a therapeutic alternative on its own, or in association with other drugs, to treat disease evoked by L. amazonensis.
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Infectologia e Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais 31.270-901, Brazil.
authors.forename: Paula Sousa
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Lage
authors.forename: Pedro Henrique Rocha
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: de Andrade
authors.forename: Amanda de Santana
authors.initials: Ade S
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.forename: Miguel Angel
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Chávez Fumagalli
authors.forename: Diogo Garcia
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Valadares
authors.forename: Mariana Costa
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Duarte
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pagliara Lage
authors.forename: Lourena Emanuele
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Vivian Tamietti
authors.initials: VT
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.forename: Tatiana Gomes
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.forename: José Dias de Souza
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Filho
authors.forename: Carlos Alberto Pereira
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Tavares
authors.forename: Rodrigo Maia
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: de Pádua
authors.forename: João Paulo Viana
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Leite
authors.forename: Eduardo Antonio Ferraz
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Coelho