title: Search for Antiprotozoal Activity in Herbal Medicinal Preparations; New Natural Leads against Neglected Tropical Diseases.
abstract: Sleeping sickness, Chagas disease, Leishmaniasis, and Malaria are infectious diseases caused by unicellular eukaryotic parasites ("protozoans"). The three first mentioned are classified as Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) by the World Health Organization and together threaten more than one billion lives worldwide. Due to the lack of research interest and the high increase of resistance against the existing treatments, the search for effective and safe new therapies is urgently required. In view of the large tradition of natural products as sources against infectious diseases [1,2], the aim of the present study is to investigate the potential of legally approved and marketed herbal medicinal products (HMPs) as antiprotozoal agents. Fifty-eight extracts from 53 HMPs on the German market were tested by a Multiple-Target-Screening (MTS) against parasites of the genera Leishmania, Trypanosoma, and Plasmodium. Sixteen HMPs showed in vitro activity against at least one of the pathogens (IC50 < 10 µg/mL). Six extracts from preparations of Salvia, Valeriana, Hypericum, Silybum, Arnica, and Curcuma exhibited high activity (IC50 < 2.5 µg/mL). They were analytically characterized by UHPLC/ESI-QqTOF-MSMS and the activity-guided fractionation of the extracts with the aim to isolate and identify the active compounds is in progress.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Pharmazeutische Biologie und Phytochemie (IPBP), University of Münster, PharmaCampus, Corrensstraße 48, D-48149 Münster, Germany. n_llur01@uni-muenster.de.
authors.forename: Núria
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Llurba Montesino
authors.affiliation: Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), Socinstraße 57, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland. Marcel.Kaiser@unibas.ch.|University of Basel, Petersplatz 1, CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland. Marcel.Kaiser@unibas.ch.
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaiser
authors.affiliation: Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), Socinstraße 57, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland. Reto.Brun@unibas.ch.|University of Basel, Petersplatz 1, CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland. Reto.Brun@unibas.ch.
authors.forename: Reto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brun
authors.affiliation: Institut für Pharmazeutische Biologie und Phytochemie (IPBP), University of Münster, PharmaCampus, Corrensstraße 48, D-48149 Münster, Germany. thomschm@uni-muenster.de.
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Schmidt
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016923:Cell Death / Q000187:drug effects; D002460:Cell Line; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; D020128:Inhibitory Concentration 50; D058069:Neglected Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000469:parasitology*; D010271:Parasites / Q000187:drug effects; D021261:Parasitic Sensitivity Tests; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000737:chemistry*; D051381:Rats; D014329:Tropical Climate
chemical_list: D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts
keywords: Leishmania donovani; Plasmodium falciparum; Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense; Trypanosoma cruzi; antiprotozoal activity; herbal medicinal preparations (HMPs); neglected tropical diseases