Botanical Medicines Cryptolepis sanguinolenta, Artemisia annua, Scutellaria baicalensis, Polygonum cuspidatum, and Alchornea cordifolia Demonstrate Inhibitory Activity Against Babesia duncani

Abstract

Human babesiosis is a CDC reportable disease in the United States and is recognized as an emerging health risk in multiple parts of the world. The current treatment for human babesiosis is suboptimal due to treatment failures and unwanted side effects. Although Babesia duncani was first described almost 30 years ago, further research is needed to elucidate its pathogenesis and clarify optimal treatment regimens. Here, we screened a panel of herbal medicines and identified Cryptolepis sanguinolenta, Artemisia annua, Scutellaria baicalensis, Alchornea cordifolia, and Polygonum cuspidatum to have good in vitro inhibitory activity against B. duncani in the hamster erythrocyte model. Furthermore, we found their potential bioactive compounds, cryptolepine, artemisinin, artesunate, artemether, and baicalein, to have good activity against B. duncani, with IC50 values of 3.4 μM, 14 μM, 7.4 μM, 7.8 μM, and 12 μM, respectively, which are comparable or lower than that of the currently used drugs quinine (10 μM) and clindamycin (37 μM). B. duncani treated with cryptolepine and quinine at their respective 1×, 2×, 4× and 8× IC50 values, and by artemether at 8× IC50 for three days could not regrow in subculture. Additionally, Cryptolepis sanguinolenta 90% ethanol extract also exhibited no regrowth after 6 days of subculture at doses of 2×, 4×, and 8× IC50 values. Our results indicate that some botanical medicines and their active constituents have potent activity against B. duncani in vitro and may be further explored for more effective treatment of babesiosis.

Plants in Anticancer Drug Discovery: From Molecular Mechanism to Chemoprevention

“…C. sanguinolenta is an African scrambling thin-stemmed shrub. It has traditionally been used in West Africa to treat the diarrhea, malaria, and respiratory problems [ 66 ]. Furthermore, different synthetic derivatives of specific alkaloidal isolates from C. sanguinolenta have also been studied for the anticancer action.…”

“…Furthermore, different synthetic derivatives of specific alkaloidal isolates from C. sanguinolenta have also been studied for the anticancer action. C. sanguinolenta has been mostly linked to its principal alkaloid, cryptolepine [ 66 , 67 ], which has demonstrated to block the NF- κ B activity in a variety of cells [ 68 ]. Along with that, in human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells, cryptolepine stimulates cell cycle arrest and apoptosis [ 66 , 68 ].…”

“…C. sanguinolenta has been mostly linked to its principal alkaloid, cryptolepine [ 66 , 67 ], which has demonstrated to block the NF- κ B activity in a variety of cells [ 68 ]. Along with that, in human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells, cryptolepine stimulates cell cycle arrest and apoptosis [ 66 , 68 ]. Cytotoxic and anti-inflammatory effects are mediated by interfering with NF- κ B activity, which results in reduction of inflammatory as well as antiapoptotic genes such iNOS, TNF- α , COX-2, and Bcl-2 [ 68 ].…”

Efficacy of Short-Term High Dose Pulsed Dapsone Combination Therapy in the Treatment of Chronic Lyme Disease/Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS) and Associated Co-Infections: A Report of Three Cases and Literature Review

“…Similarly, in our prior study of DDDCT, among six patients who were Babesia FISH positive, three (50%) remained in remission, and the other three patients improved (50%). In this study, 3/11 patients (27.3%) who had previously failed DDDCT and multiple Babesia therapies, including clindamycin [ 98 ], atovaquone and azithromycin [ 99 , 100 ], atovaquone/proguanil [ 101 ], tafenoquine [ 102 ], lumefantrine/artemether [ 103 ], cryptolepis, and artemisinin [ 104 ] went into remission with a resolution of malarial-type symptoms (sweats, chills, flushing, unexplained cough, and “air hunger”) after using 1–3 four-day courses of HDDCT.…”

Recent Progress in Lyme Disease and Remaining Challenges

“…1 Furthermore, tools capable of discriminating the etiology of persistent health issues following treatment for LD are needed in order to improve therapy development efforts and target treatments for more precise patient-centered care. (89). Since the above herbal medicines that have activity against Bb and Babesia have been used traditionally in patients with good safety profile, proper clinical trials are needed to evaluate their utility in treating patients with LD and coinfections.…”