Trypanocidal Constituents in Plants 5. Evaluation of Some Mexican Plants for Their Trypanocidal Activity and Active Constituents in the Seeds of Persea americana

Fumiko Abe; Shinya Nagafuji; Masafumi Okawa; Junei Kinjo; Hiroshige Akahane; Tetsuya Ogura; Miguel Angel Martinez-Alfaro; Ricardo Reyes-Chilpa

doi:10.1248/bpb.28.1314

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Trypanocidal Constituents in Plants 5. Evaluation of Some Mexican Plants for Their Trypanocidal Activity and Active Constituents in the Seeds of Persea americana

Fumiko Abe, Shinya Nagafuji, Masafumi Okawa, Junei Kinjo, Hiroshige Akahane, Tetsuya Ogura, Miguel Angel Martinez-Alfaro, Ricardo Reyes-Chilpa

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Keywords: trypanocidal activity, Trypanosoma cruzi, Persea americana, Chagas' disease, 1,2,4-trihydroxyheptadecane derivative

JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

2005 Volume 28 Issue 7 Pages 1314-1317

DOI https://doi.org/10.1248/bpb.28.1314

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Abstract

Crude extracts of Mexican medicinal plants were screened for trypanocidal activity against Trypanosoma cruzi, which is the etiological agent for Chagas' disease, one of the most serious protozoan diseases in Latin America. There were 71 kinds of methanolic and other organic extracts from 65 plants, which were newly examined by a preliminary screening test to observe immobilization of epimastigotes and trypomastigotes of T. cruzi in vitro. The MeOH extract of seeds of Persea americana (avocado) showed moderate activity against epimastigotes. In order to identify the principal compounds for the activity, the MeOH extract was subjected to bioassay-guided fractionation. From the active fractions, six 1,2,4-trihydroxyheptadecane derivatives and two 1,2,4-trihydroxynonadecane derivatives including a new one were isolated. These compounds showed moderate activity against epimastigotes and trypomastigotes.

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