Neglected parasitic diseases and therapy with medicinal plants used by people from the neighboring basins Platinum and Amazon

Disease therapy using the flora has been maintained throughout the history of humanity. Substances in plants may be useful to treat neglected parasitic diseases (NPD). Chagas disease, endemic in the Amazon, is an NPD. The bugs Triatoma infestans and T. sordida are the vectors of the parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi. Schistosomiasis is another NPD caused by the helminth Schistosoma mansoni. The adult parasite is in the body of the patient and sporocysts in snail (Biomphalaria). It is endemic in parts of southeastern and northeastern Brazil. Leishmaniasis is another NPD caused by protozoa (Leishmania spp.). Vectors are mosquitoes (Lutzomia spp.) living in natural habitats but also in some cities, affecting dogs and man. The vector contracts the protozoan while sucking infected blood and infects new victims by further bites. The three diseases occur mostly in areas with poor health infrastructure, leading many patients to death. This study reveals plants used to treat these NPD by people from the neighboring region of the Amazon Basin (A), Platinum Basin (P); range Transition AP (T). We visited 21 counties (A = 4, T = 3, P = 14) of southwestern Mato Grosso (Brazil, 2005) to interview 63 informants with expertise in NPD (A = 12, T = 9, P = 42). They were asked which herbs were most important and served to treat these diseases. Chagas was more distressing in P (Cáceres) and T (VS Domingos); Schistosomiasis in the T (P. Lacerda, VS Domingos) and Leishmaniasis in A (Conq. Oeste) and P (Curvelândia, Indiavaí, P. Espiridião). Informants showed 2 plants used against Chagas (Vochysia rufa, Echinodorus macrophyllus), 2 plants against Schistosomiasis (Commelina spp., Trianosperma trilobata) and 5 plants against Leishmaniasis (Xanthosoma violaceum, Symphytum officinale, Pterodon emarginatus, Atropa belladonna, Stryphnodendron adstringens). Only few scienific studies are available online in April 2013 linking these plants to the three diseases. Further research in this area is suggested.