TY - JOUR A1 - Muthaura, Charles N. A1 - Keriko, Joseph M. A1 - Mutai, Charles A1 - Yenesew, Abiy A1 - Heydenreich, Matthias A1 - Atilaw, Yoseph A1 - Gathirwa, Jeremiah W. A1 - Irungu, Beatrice N. A1 - Derese, Solomon T1 - Antiplasmodial, cytotoxicity and phytochemical constituents of four maytenus species used in traditional medicine in Kenya JF - The natural products journal N2 - Background: In Kenya, several species of the genus Maytenus are used in traditional medicine to treat many diseases including malaria. In this study, phytochemical constituents and extracts of Maytenus undata, M. putterlickioides, M. senegalensis and M. heterophylla were evaluated to determine compound/s responsible for antimalarial activity. Objective: To isolate antiplasmodial compounds from these plant species which could be used as marker compounds in the standardization of their extracts as a phytomedicine for malaria. Methods: Constituents were isolated through activity-guided fractionation of the MeOH/CHCl3 (1:1) extracts and in vitro inhibition of Plasmodium falciparum. Cytotoxicity was evaluated using Vero cells and the compounds were elucidated on the basis of NMR spectroscopy. Results: Fractionation of the extracts resulted in the isolation of ten known compounds. Compound 1 showed promising antiplasmodial activity with IC50, 3.63 and 3.95 ng/ml against chloroquine sensitive (D6) and resistant (W2) P. falciparum, respectively and moderate cytotoxicity (CC50, 37.5 ng/ml) against Vero E6 cells. The other compounds showed weak antiplasmodial (IC50 > 1.93 mu g/ml) and cytotoxic (CC50 > 39.52 mu g/ml) activities against P. falciparum and Vero E6 cells, respectively. Conclusion: (20 alpha)-3-hydroxy-2-oxo-24-nor-friedela-1(10),3,5,7-tetraen-carboxylic acid-(29)-methyl-ester (pristimerin) (1) was the most active marker and lead compound that warrants further investigation as a template for the development of new antimalarial drugs. Pristimerin is reported for the first time in M. putterlickioides. 3-Hydroxyolean-12-en-28-oic acid (oleanolic acid) (5), stigmast-5-en-3-ol (beta-sitosterol) (6), 3-oxo-28-friedelanoic acid (7), olean-12-en-3-ol (beta-amyrin) (8), lup-20(29)-en-3-ol (lupeol) (9) and lup-20(29)-en-3-one (lupenone) (10) are reported for the first time in M. undata. KW - Antimalarial plants KW - antiplasmodial KW - cytotoxicity KW - marker compound KW - Maytenus spp. KW - phytomedicine KW - pristimerin Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.2174/2210315507666161206144050 SN - 2210-3155 SN - 2210-3163 VL - 7 IS - 2 SP - 144 EP - 152 PB - Bentham Science Publ. CY - Sharjah ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Irungu, Beatrice N. A1 - Adipo, Nicholas A1 - Orwa, Jennifer A. A1 - Kimani, Francis A1 - Heydenreich, Matthias A1 - Midiwo, Jacob O. A1 - Bjoremark, Per Martin A1 - Hakansson, Mikael A1 - Yenesew, Abiy A1 - Erdelyi, Mate T1 - Antiplasmodial and cytotoxic activities of the constituents of Turraea robusta and Turraea nilotica JF - Journal of ethnopharmacology : an interdisciplinary journal devoted to bioscientific research on indigenous drugs N2 - Ethnopharmacological relevance: Turraea robusta and Turraea nilotica are African medicinal plants used for the treatment of a wide variety of diseases, including malaria. The genus Turraea is rich in limonoids and other triterpenoids known to possess various biological activities. Materials and methods: From the stem bark of T. robusta six compounds, and from various parts of T nilotica eleven compounds were isolated by the use of a combination of chromatographic techniques. The structures of the isolated compounds were elucidated using NMR and MS, whilst the relative configuration of one of the isolated compounds, toonapubesin F, was established by X-ray crystallography. The antiplasmodial activities of the crude extracts and the isolated constituents against the D6 and W2 strains of Plasmodium falciparum were determined using the semiautomated micro dilution technique that measures the ability of the extracts to inhibit the incorporation of (G-H-3, where G is guanine) hypoxanthine into the malaria parasite. The cytotoxicity of the crude extracts and their isolated constituents was evaluated against the mammalian cell lines African monkey kidney (vero), mouse breast cancer (4T1) and human larynx carcinoma (HEp2). Results: The extracts showed good to moderate antiplasmodial activities, where the extract of the stem bark of T. robusta was also cytotoxic against the 4T1 and the HEp2 cells (IC50 < 10 mu g/ml). The compounds isolated from these extracts were characterized as limonoids, protolimonoids and phytosterol glucosides. These compounds showed good to moderate activities with the most active one being azadironolide, IC50 2.4 +/- 0.03 mu M and 1.1 +/- 0.01 mu M against the D6 and W2 strains of Plasmodium falciparum, respectively; all other compounds possessed IC50 14.4-40.5 mu M. None of the compounds showed significant cytotoxicity against vero cells, yet four of them were toxic against the 4T1 and HEp2 cancer cell lines with piscidinol A having IC50 8.0 +/- 0.03 and 8.4 +/- 0.01 mu M against the 4T1 and HEp2 cells, respectively. Diacetylation of piscidinol A resulted in reduced cytotoxicity. Conclusion: From the medicinal plants T. robusta and T. nilotica, twelve compounds were isolated and characterized; two of the isolated compounds, namely 11-epi-toonacilin and azadironolide showed good antiplasmodial activity with the highest selectivity indices. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. KW - Turraea robusta KW - Turraea nilotica KW - Antiplasmodial activity KW - Cytotoxicity KW - Limonoid KW - Toonapubesins F KW - Toonacilin KW - Azadironolide Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2015.08.039 SN - 0378-8741 VL - 174 SP - 419 EP - 425 PB - Elsevier CY - Clare ER -