Antileishmanial Effect of 5,3′-Hydroxy-7,4′-dimethoxyflavanone ofPicramnia gracilisTul. (Picramniaceae) Fruit:In VitroandIn VivoStudies

Abstract

Species of Picramnia genus are used in folk medicine to treat or prevent skin disorders, but only few species have been studied for biological activity and chemical composition. P. gracilis Tul. is a native species from Central and South America and although its fruits are edible, phytochemical analysis or medicinal uses of this species are not known. In the search of candidates to antileishmanial drugs, this work aimed to evaluate the antileishmanial activity of P. gracilis Tul. in in vitro and in vivo studies. Only ethanolic extract of fruits showed leishmanicidal activity. The majoritarian metabolite was 5,3′-hydroxy-7,4′-dimethoxyflavanone ether that exhibited high activity against L. (V.) panamensis (EC50 17.0 + 2.8 mg/mL, 53.7 μM) and low toxicity on mammalian U-937 cells, with an index of selectivity >11.8. In vivo studies showed that the flavanone administered in solution (2 mg/kg/day) or cream (2%) induces clinical improvement and no toxicity in hamsters with CL. In conclusion, this is the first report about isolation of 5,3′-hydroxy-7,4′-dimethoxyflavanone of P. gracilis Tul. The leishmanicidal activity attributed to this flavanone is also reported for the first time. Finally, the in vitro and in vivo leishmanicidal activity reported here for 5,3′-hydroxy-7,4′-dimethoxyflavanone offers a greater prospect towards antileishmanial drug discovery and development.

Antiprotozoal investigation of 20 plant metabolites on Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania amazonensis amastigotes. Atalantoflavone alters the mitochondrial membrane potential

“…Flavanones such as sakuranetin devoid of prenyl groups showed weak antileishmanial against L. amazonensis promastigotes (IC 50 of 181 µ m) (Grecco et al ., 2012). Other flavanones such as ( S )-naringenin and 5,3′-hydroxy-7,4′-dimethoxyflavanone, also devoid of prenyl group showed from moderate to weak antileishmanial activity against L. donovani amastigotes (IC 50 of 18.4 µ m ) and L. ( V. ) panamensis amastigotes (EC 50 at 53.7 µ m), respectively (Tasdemir et al ., 2006; Robledo et al ., 2015).…”

A Biologically Active Chromone fromBomarea setacea(alstroemeriaceae): Leishmanicidal, Antioxidant and Multilevel Computational Studies

“…In addition, the compound exhibited a selectivity index greater than one (SI=13.5) leading to greater activity against the parasite than the toxicity against the host cell (table 1). This compound showed better activity and lower cytotoxicity than other secondary metabolites such as others chromones, [23] flavonoids [24,25] and flavones [26] …”

Antimycobacterial Activity of Milemaronol, a New Squalene-Type Triterpene, and Other Isolate?

“…Besides the quassinoids, other types of triterpenes, alkaloids, and other classes of compounds were also observed. 4 These compounds showed many biological activities like antibacterial, 5,6 anticancer, 7,8 antileishmanial 9 -11 ; antiviral, 12 -14 and others. 11,15 -19…”