In vitro antiprotozoal and cytotoxic activity of 33 ethonopharmacologically selected medicinal plants from Democratic Republic of Congo

• Published in: Journal of ethnopharmacology Vol. 141; no. 1; pp. 301 - 308
• Main Authors: Musuyu Muganza, D., Fruth, B.I., Nzunzu Lami, J., Mesia, G.K., Kambu, O.K., Tona, G.L., Cimanga Kanyanga, R., Cos, P., Maes, L., Apers, S., Pieters, L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ireland Elsevier Ireland Ltd 07.05.2012
• Subjects: Annickia; Antimalarials - pharmacology; Antiprotozoal activity; Antiprotozoal Agents - isolation & purification; Antiprotozoal Agents - pharmacology; Antiprotozoal Agents - therapeutic use; Antiprotozoal Agents - toxicity; Aqueous extracts; bark; Cell Line; Cell Survival - drug effects; Cytotoxicity; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; DR Congo; Ethnopharmacology; Humans; Inhibitory Concentration 50; inventories; Isolona; Leishmania infantum; Leishmania infantum - drug effects; Medicinal plants; Medicine, African Traditional; Parasitic Sensitivity Tests; parasitoses; Phytotherapy; Piptadeniastrum; plant extracts; Plant Extracts - isolation & purification; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Plant Extracts - therapeutic use; Plant Extracts - toxicity; Plants, Medicinal; Plasmodium falciparum; Plasmodium falciparum - drug effects; Protozoa; Quassia; roots; stems; Trypanocidal Agents - pharmacology; Trypanosoma brucei; Trypanosoma brucei brucei - drug effects; Trypanosoma cruzi; Trypanosoma cruzi - drug effects; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Africa; Medicinal plants; CC50; DR Congo; IC50; Aqueous extracts; Cytotoxicity; HAT; Antiprotozoal activity; WHO
• ISSN: 0378-8741; 1872-7573
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2012.02.035

The antiprotozoal and cytotoxic activity of the aqueous extracts from 33 medicinal plants, used by traditional healers for the treatment of various parasitic diseases and collected after an ethnopharmacological inventory conducted in the Bolongo area, Bandundu province in DR Congo, was evaluated. Decoctions were prepared, lyophilized and evaluated for in vitro antiprotozoal activity against Trypanosoma b. brucei, Trypanosoma cruzi, Leishmania infantum, and the chloroquine- and pyrimethamine-resistant K1 strain of Plasmodium falciparum. Cytotoxicity against MRC-5 cells was included to assess selectivity of activity. Most of the tested extracts exhibited pronounced (IC50≤5μg/ml) or good (5<IC50≤10μg/ml) antiprotozoal activity against one or more of the selected protozoa. A total of 19 plant extracts inhibited Trypanosoma b. brucei, especially the extract from Isolona hexaloba stem bark (IC50=1.95μg/ml, SI=16.5); 8 plant extracts were active against Trypanosoma cruzi, the extracts from Enanatia chlorantha stem bark and Quassia africana root bark being the most active with IC50 values of 1.87 and 1.88μg/ml, respectively (SI=3.0 and 3.3, respectively); 8 plant extracts showed activity against Leishmania infantum, with extracts from Napoleona vogelii stem bark and Quassia africana root bark as the most active with IC50 values of 5.66 and 5.04μg/ml (SI=11.3 and 1.2). Finally, 9 plant extracts inhibited Plasmodium falciparum K1 with the extracts from Quassia africana (root bark and stem bark) being the most active ones with IC50 values of 0.46 and 1.27μg/ml (SI=13.7 and 13.6). Extracts from Enantia chlorantha stem bark, Piptadeniastrum africanum stem bark and Quassia africana root bark were cytotoxic for MRC-5 cells (CC50<10μg/ml). These results can partly support and justify the traditional use of some of these plant species for the treatment of parasitic diseases.