Planta Med 2016; 82 - PC18
DOI: 10.1055/s-0036-1578720

In Vitro Antileishmanial Activity Of Selected Medicinal Plants From Nigeria

BM Oluwasesan 1, 2, 3, PS Fasinu 3, S Jain 3, 4, B Tekwani 3, 4, Z Ali 3, IA Khan 3, 4, UL Ajao 2, OS Olubunmi 2
  • 1Dept. of Applied Chemistry, Federal University Dutsin-Ma, Katsina State, Nigeria
  • 2Dept. of Chemistry, University of Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria
  • 3National Center for Natural Products Research
  • 4Division of Pharmacognosy, Department of BioMolecular Sciences, School of Pharmacy, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA

Infections due to protozoa of the genus Leishmania are a major health problem worldwide, with high endemicity in developing countries [1]. Natural products can provide unlimited opportunities for the discovery of new lead compounds targeting this neglected disease. The antileishmanial activities of the fractions of 18 medicinal plants, belonging to 14 families, were studied. Hexane, chloroform and methanol extracts were investigated in vitro against Leishmania donovani (promastigotes, axenic amastigotes and intracellular amastigotes in THP1 cells) and Trypanosoma brucei, using standard procedures [2, 3]. The methanol fraction of Corchorus walcottii showed selective antileshimanial activity against intracellular L. donovani amastigotes with IC50 of 5.94 µg/ml. Methanol fraction of Cassia obtusifolia, methanol and chloroform fractions of Corchorus walcotti and methanol fraction of Vitex grandifolia exhibited activity against T. brucei blood stage trypamastigotes with IC50 (µg/ml) values of 5.88, 5.73, 7.29 and 8.73, respectively. These findings suggest that Cassia obtusifolia, Corchorus walcottii and Vitex grandifolia may be promising candidates for isolation of antiprotozoal compounds, which could serve as lead structures for development of new drugs against these neglected tropical diseases.

Reference: [1] Alvar M. et al (2012). Leishmaniasis worldwide. PloS One 7 (5). [2] Jain SK, et al. (2012)J Vis Exp. 70. pii: 4054. Doi: 10.3791/4054 [3] Mohamed SM, et al., (2015) Fitoterapia, 107:114 – 21