Comparative antimalarial and cytotoxic activities of two <i>Vernonia species: V. amygdalina</i> from the Democratic Republic of Congo and <i>V. cinerea subsp vialis</i> endemic to Madagascar

Abstract

Vernonia amygdalina Del. is a conventional herbal drug in Congolese traditional medicine and is widely used for the treatment of malaria.The aim of this work is to evaluate its efficacy and safety and the potential antimalarial activity of another species originating from Madagascar. Standard bioassay models based on in vitro and in vivo systems that enable bioactivity screening of traditionally used medicinal plants were used. In particular, hydro-alcoholic extracts of two Vernonia species growing in two different geographical regions(Congo DR and Madagascar) were evaluated for the inhibitory effects on two malaria parasites strains and cytotoxicity towards leukaemia P-388 cell lines. Results indicate that, V. amygdalina possess a very good in vitro and in vivo activities and a good therapeutic index than V. cinerea subsp vialis endemic to Madagascar, thus validate scientifically the efficacy and safety of Vernonia amygdalina in the traditional treatment of malaria in Congo DR. Using chemotaxonomic approach, we also detected moderate antiplasmodial activities in V. cinerea subsp vialis a plant species not previously reported as antimalarial in the traditional medicine knowlegde of Madagascar. It would be concluded that despite the long spatial isolation of Madagascar and allopatric speciation, Vernonia ecotype as V. cinerea subsp vialis has preserved the antiplasmodial properties. This approach gives the possibility to select plant species of the same genus from different geographical regions in order to increase the chance of discovering new biologically active plants.

Antiplasmodial, cytotoxic activities and characterization of a new naturally occurring quinone methide pentacyclic triterpenoid derivative isolated from Salacia leptoclada Tul. (Celastraceae) originated from Madagascar

“…The need of active antiplasmodial drugs with new mode of action becomes more and more urgent to replace ineffective drugs [3][4][5] . In many developing countries, medicinal plants were used by traditional healers to treat malaria for decade [6][7][8][9][10][11] .…”

“…And 60 mg of F 31 was subjected to further purification using a silica gel column chromatography, and using hexan and a gradient of ethyl acetate for elution. This furnished pure compound (8 …”

Activités antimicrobiennes et antioxydantes des extraits aqueux totaux des fruits de <i>Dialium corbisieri</i> et <i>Dialium gossweilerii</i> (Fabaceae- Caesalpinioideae), consommés par les bonobos, Bolobo, République Démocratique du Congo

“…En effet, de nombreuses études (Cousins et Huffman, 2002 ;Krief et al, 2005 ;Chapman et al, 2006 ;Fowler et al, 2007) ont montré que les grands singes recourent aux plantes pouvant améliorer leur santé. Ce comportement d'automédication observé chez les primates dans ces milieux sauvages est une indication très intéressante, puisque plusieurs de ces plantes sont utilisées en médecine traditionnelle africaine contre nombreuses maladies (Fruth et al, 2010 ;Ngbolua et al, 2011, Musuyu Muganza et al, 2012Maloueki et al, 2013a ;Maloueki et al, 2015).…”

Pharmacological screening of some traditionally-used antimalarial plants from the Democratic Republic of Congo compared to their ecological taxonomic equivalence in Madagascar

“…In the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as in Madagascar, the majority of people rely on traditional medicine for their health care needs because the costs of conventional drugs are unaffordable (Ngbolua et al, 2011).…”

“…Congolese plants studied have been selected as antimalarial plants based on empirical evidence of their clinical use by Congolese traditional healers while plants from Madagascar were selected according to the chemotaxonomic criteria on the assumption that closely related species should be expected to have a greater degree of similarity in the molecular structure of their bio molecules (nucleic acids, proteins, bioactive secondary metabolites) (Minkoff, 1983;Ngbolua et al, 2011). Pharmacological screening comparisons between species originating from different geographic regions separated by a physical barrier will be useful in assessing the relative biochemical similarities among them.…”