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The naphthoquinone 7-methyljuglone (5-hydroxy-7-methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone) has previously been isolated and identified as an active component of root extracts of Euclea natalensis which displays antitubercular activity. Herein, a series of synthetic and plantderived naphthoquinone derivates of the 7-methyljuglone scaffold have been prepared and evaluated for antibacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Several of these compounds have been shown to operate as subversive substrates with mycothiol disulfide reductase. The absence of a direct correlation between antitubercular activity and subversive substrate efficiency with mycothiol disulfide reductase, might be a consequence of their non-specific reactivity with multiple biological targets (e.g. other disulfide reductases). openUP (December 2007) Graphical abstractArticle Outline

Seven ethnobotanically selected medicinal plants were screened for their antimycobacterial activity. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of four plants namely Artemisia afra, Dodonea angustifolia, Drosera capensis and Galenia africana ranged from 0.781 to 6.25 mg/mL against Mycobacterium smegmatis. G. africana showed the best activity exhibiting an MIC of 0.78 mg/mL and a minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of 1.56 mg/mL. The MICs of ethanol extracts of D. angustifolia and G. africana against M. tuberculosis were found to be 5.0 and 1.2 mg/mL respectively. The mammalian cytotoxicity IC(50) value of the most active antimycobacterial extract, from G. africana, was found to be 101.3 microg/mL against monkey kidney Vero cells. Since the ethanol G. africana displayed the best antimycobacterial activity, it was subjected to fractionation which led to the isolation of a flavone, 5,7,2'-trihydroxyflavone. The MIC of this compound was found to be 0.031 mg/mL against M. smegmatis and 0.10 mg/mL against M. tuberculosis. This study gives some scientific basis to the traditional use of these plants for TB-related symptoms.

The bioassay-guided fractionation of the EtOH extract of the leaves of Galenia africana led to the isolation of three known flavonoids, (2S)-5,7,2'-trihydroxyflavanone (1), (E)-3,2',4'-trihydroxychalcone (2), and (E)-2',4'-dihydroxychalcone (3), and the new (E)-3,2',4'-trihydroxy-3'-methoxychalcone (4). Compounds 1 and 3 exhibited moderate antituberculosis activity. During synergistic studies, a combination of compound 4 and an existing antituberculosis drug, isoniazid, reduced their original MICs 4-fold, resulting in a fractional inhibitory concentration of 0.50. The most pronounced effect was demonstrated by compound 1 and isoniazid reducing their MICs 16-fold and resulting in an FIC of 0.12. Both EtOH extract and isolated compounds failed to exhibit any NADPH oxidase activity at 800.0 muM concentrations, indicating that mycothiol disulfide reductase is not the target for their antituberculosis activity.