In Vitro Antiplasmodial Activity of Tithonia diversifolia and Identification of its Main Active Constituent: Tagitinin C

Abstract

The antimalarial properties of Tithonia diversifolia, an Asteraceae traditionally used to treat malaria, were investigated in vitro against three strains of Plasmodium falciparum. The ether extract from aerial parts of the plant collected in São Tomé e Príncipe, demonstrated good antiplasmodial activity (IC 50 on FCA strain: 0.75 microg/ml). A bioassay guided fractionation of this extract led to the isolation of the known sesquiterpene lactone tagitinin C as an active component against Plasmodium (IC 50 on FCA strain: 0.33 microg/ml), but also possessing cytotoxic properties (IC 50 on HTC-116 cells: 0.706 microg/ml).

A review of antimalarial plants used in traditional medicine in communities in Portuguese-Speaking countries: Brazil, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe and Angola

“…As expected for a member of Asteraceae family, this species contains sesquiterpene lactones tagitinin A-C and F. Tagitinin C was reported as an active antiplasmodial component (0.33 µg/mL), which also possessed cytotoxic properties (IC 50 on HTC-116 cells: 0.706 µg/ mL) (Goffin et al 2002).…”

“…The importance of this species as an antimalarial has been documented by many authors who found activity for the nonpolar and medium polarity extracts (Goffin et al 2002, Madureira et al 2002a, Elufioye & Agbedahunsi 2004.…”

Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction of tagitinin C from Tithonia diversifolia

“…The tagitinin C, isolated and purified by Goffin et al [1], was employed for the preparation of standards. Its purity (97.2%) was determined by HPLC normalisation procedure [12].…”

“…Goffin et al [1] isolated the tagitinin C ( Fig. 1), a known sesquiterpene lactone [2,3], from the aerial parts of the plant and discovered its antimalarial activity against Plasmodium falciparum.…”

Xylariaceae Endophytic Fungi Metabolites Against Salmonella

“…This plant extracts are used for the treatment of malaria, diarrhea, fever, hepatitis and wounds (Gu et al, 2002, Cos et al, 2002. There are also attributed anti-inflammatory, amebic, antispasmodic, antifungal, antibacterial and antiviral activities (Goffin et al, 2002, Cos et al, 2002. Lu & co-workers (2000) in a research at Nanjing, China, observed the presence of 11 bioactive metabolites produced by Colletotrichum sp.…”