Abstract Detail

Society for Economic Botany/BSA Economic Botany Section

Struwe, Lena [1], Graziose, Rocky  [2], Brody, Stacy [2], Sugumaran, M [3], Smith, Peter [4], Raskin, Ilya [2], Pohlit, Adrian [1].

Tropical Fagraea and Tachia (Gentianaceae) as potential sources of antimalarial treatments.

Malaria is a major global health problem, with hundreds of millions of cases each year. Drug resistant strains of Plasmodium are evolving, so commonly-used antimalarial treatments are no longer effective in many areas. Plants contain vast resources of known and unknown bioactive compounds and are potential sources of new antimalarial drugs. Species in Fagraea and Tachia (Gentianaceae; tribes Potalieae and Helieae, respectively) have traditionally been used to treat malaria and fever in the tropics. We investigated the chemical and bioactivity basis for their ethnobotanical uses as medicinal herbals in malaria treatment. Extracts were prepared and tested to determine the antiplasmodial activity and cytotoxicity of four species of Fagraea: F. fragrans, F. crenulata, F. racemosa, and F. auriculata. Fagraea fragrans and F. crenulata all relatively large trees and F. racemosa is a small shrub, whereas F. auriculata is usually hemiepiphytic. They are closely related to species of Anthocleista from Africa, another antimalarial herbal. We expected to see antiplasmodial activity at least from F. fragrans, as two antimalarial substances, the monoterpene fagraldehyde and the monoterpene alkaloid gentianine, have been isolated from this species. The in vivo antiplasmodial activity of aqueous root extracts of Brazilian Tachia has been known for two decades. Two antimalarial compounds have now been found in Brazilian Tachia, amplexine (previously only found in Anthocleista) and decussatin, also confirming its value as a traditional antimalarial medicine. The presence of antimalarial compounds in widely divergent and poorly investigated tropical gentians suggests that further studies in this taxonomic group should be prioritized.

Broader Impacts:

1 - Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia – INPA, Coordenação de Pesquisas em Produtos Naturais – CPPN, Laboratório de Princípios Ativos da Amazônia – LAPAAM, Avenida André Araújo 2936, Petrópolis - Manaus , Amazonas, CEP 69060-001, Brazil
2 - Rutgers University, Plant Biology And Pathology, 59 Dudley Road, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA
3 - Rimba Ilmu Botanic Garden, Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 50603 , MALAYSIA
4 - University of Cape Town Medical School, k45OMB Groote Schuur Hospital, Observatory , 7925, South Africa

Keywords:
ethnobotany
malaria
phytochemistry
bioactivity
Gentianales
medicinal plants
Gentianaceae
Herbal medicine
tropics
chemosystematics.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Sections
Session: 02
Location: Maryland Room/Chase Park Plaza
Date: Monday, July 11th, 2011
Time: 8:30 AM
Number: 02003
Abstract ID:369