Leishmaniasis and trypanosomiasis are protozoan diseases caused respectively by the kinetoplastid protozoan Leishmania parasites transmitted by the female phlebotomine sandflies and Trypanosoma parasites transmitted by the tsetse fly. In the search for agents from tropical medicinal plants to treat these two neglected tropical diseases, serially extracted petroleum ether, dichloromethane and methanol extracts of the leaves of Monodora crispata and Monodora brevipes, and eleven aporphines alkaloids isolated from the dried powdered leaves of the two plants were evaluated against Leishmania donovani promastigotes and Trypanosoma brucei brucei trypomastigotes. The extracts of both plants and the isolated compounds displayed varied levels of antiprotozoal activities. The oxoaporphine compounds, (+)-anolobine (7) and (+)-listeferine (8), exerted the most significant activity against L. donovani (IC 50 : 14.59 µM) and T. brucei brucei (LC 100 : 50.02 µM) respectively. This is the first report on the antiprotozoal activity of the isolated compounds. The results offer potential for further studies of the oxoaporphines for enhanced antiprotozoal activity.
Dichrostachys cinerea (L.) Wight et Arn. (Fabaceae) root bark is used in Ivorian Traditional Medicine to treat asthma, which is a respiratory disorder characterized by inflammation and the restriction of tracheal muscles obstructing the air circulation. The tracheal relaxant effect of a crude aqueous-alcoholic extract of the plant root bark was previously shown. For the present study, alkaloids were isolated from the same extract and investigated ex vivo in C57Bl/6j mice isolated trachea contracted with carbachol 1 µM, in comparison with a reference bronchodilatator, i.e. salbutamol. Two extraction procedures allowed isolating 2 Alkaloids that monodimensional and bi-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass specters allowed identifying a pyrolidine structure type nucleus with a long bi-hydroxyled alkyl chain. Alkaloid 1, carrier of a sugar, is a glycoside of Alkaloid 2. Both alkaloids induced similar spasmolytic effects, but Alkaloid 1 was more effective than Alkaloid 2 at 9 × 10 −6 M (p ˂ 0.01), 3 × 10 −5 M, and 9 × 10 −5 M (p ˂ 0.001). Salbutamol induced its spasmolytic effect in a different way, and its maximal effect E max (less than 30%) was obtained at 9 × 10 −6 M, while E max of both alkaloids (100%) was obtained at 3 × 10 −4 M.
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