Swartzia simplex a source of new antifungal compounds

Invasive fungal infections have dramatically increased over the last 20 years and they became a major cause of nosocomial infections in developed countries making urgent the need of new antifungal drugs [1]. In this way, a natural resource represents an interesting source of new active compounds. The dichloromethane extract of the root bark of Swartzia simplex (Fabaceae) presented an interesting antifungal activity against Candida albicans in a bioautography assay [2]. In order to isolate the active compounds, bioguided isolation was undertaken using HPLC-microfractionation in 96 well plates and agar-overlay bioautography to localize the active compounds in the HPLC-PAD metabolite profiling of the crude extract. The analytical HPLC-PAD conditions were geometrically transferred to a preparative medium pressure chromatography (MPLC-UV) by chromatographic calculations for the efficient isolation of the active compounds at the milligram scale in one step. Using this approach ten compounds were isolated, six of them are new natural products. The structures of the isolated compounds were elucidated by classical spectroscopic methods including UV, 2D NMR and HR-MS. MIQ of the actives compounds were obtained and compare with others natural antifungal compounds [3].

Acknowledgements: SNF grant CR2313 – 143733 to J.L.W. and EFQ.

References:

[1] L. Ostrosky-Zeichner, A. Casadevall, J. N. Galgiani, F. C. Odds, J. H. Rex. Nat Rev Drug Discov 2010; 9 (9), 719 – 727.

[2] Q. Favre-Godal, E.F. Queiroz, D. Sanglard, J.-L. Wolfender. Planta Med 2012; 78-PD159.

[3] Q. Favre-Godal, E.F. Queiroz, J.-L. Wolfender. JAOAC 2013; in press.