Planta Med 2000; 66(1): 93-95
DOI: 10.1055/s-0029-1243122
Letter

© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

Antiplasmodial Activity of the Alkaloids of Peschiera fuchsiaefolia

Elena Federici1 , Giovanna Palazzino1 , Marcello Nicoletti2 , Corrado Galeffi1 ,*
  • 1Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Roma, Italy
  • 2Dipartimento di Biologia Vegetale, Università ”La Sapienza”, Roma, Italy
Further Information

Publication History

Received: March 18, 1999

Accepted: May 22, 1999

Publication Date:
24 November 2009 (online)

Abstract

The tertiary and quaternary alkaloids isolated from the stem bark, root bark and seeds of Peschiera fuchsiaefolia are reported. The tertiary alkaloid crude extract from the stem bark was tested in vitro against Plasmodium falciparum on the basis of the antimalarial use of the plant. It showed good activity against both the D6 strain (IC50 = 495ng/ml) and chloroquine-resistant W2 strain (IC50 = 817ng/ml) and voacamine was the most active of the tested alkaloids (IC50 = 238ng/ml for D6 and 290ng/ml for W2). The tertiary alkaloid crude extract from the root bark of the same plant is more active than voacamine (IC50 = 179ng/ml for D6 and 282ng/ml for W2 strain), and is particularly rich in dimeric alkaloids (0.22 % of the vegetable material).

References

Prof. Dr. C. Galeffi

Istituto Superiore di Sanità

V. le Regina Elena 299

I-00161 Rome

Italy

Email: galeffi@iss.it

Fax: +396 49387100