Abstract
The phenylanthraquinone knipholone (1) and three of its natural derivatives as well as seven structurally related but simplified
compounds have been examined for their antiplasmodial activity against asexual erythrocytic
stages of two strains of Plasmodium falciparum in vitro (K1/chloroquine-resistant and NF 54/chloroquine-sensitive). All the phenylanthraquinones
showed considerable activity with only little cytotoxicity, while their anthraquinone
and phenyl moieties were completely inactive. Knipholone (1) and its natural derivatives can therefore be considered as a new group of potential
antimalarials.
