RESUMO
Chagas’ disease is a chronic illness caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi. According to estimates, approximately 16-18 million people are infected in Latin American. Plant extracts exhibit a wide variety of secondary metabolites and can play an important role in the discovery of new compounds with biological potential. The in vitro trypanocidal activity of the extracts obtained from six plant species collected in Egypt (Parkia africana, Parkia roxburgi, Lagerstromeia speciosa, Schinopsis lorentzii, Lagerstromeia indica, and Sapindus saponaria) was assayed against trypomastigote and amastigote forms of T. cruzi. The cytotoxic activity of the most active extract was also evaluated by conducting MTT assays. S. lorentzii and S. saponaria were the most active extracts against the trypomastigote form;IC50 values were 9.9 and 27.34 g/mL, respectively. The S. lorentzii extract was also evaluated against the amastigote form (IC50 was 111.5 g/mL).The S. lorentzii extract did not exhibit significant cytotoxic activity. The selectivity index value indicated that this extract was highly selective for the parasite. The S. lorentzii and S. saponariaextracts exhibit trypanocidal activity, probably as a result of the presence ofdifferent constituentsand their concentrations in the extracts.
RESUMO
This study deals with the evaluation of in vitro cytotoxicity of the methanol 80% extract of Ficus vasta aerial parts in Vero cells, anti-HSV-1 and antibacterial activities and the determination of the phytochemical content of the F. vasta methanol extract. The extract was tested for its cytotoxicity in Vero cells and for anti-HSV-1 and against bacterial strains as S. aureus, S. epidermidis, E. coli and P. aeruginosa and also phytochemical constituents were detected. The results showed that this extract presented a CC50 value of 389 μg/mL, an intermediate value taking into account other researchers reported for some Moraceae species. Regarding the other biological activities, antiviral effect was not demonstrated by a HSV-1 challenge dilution of 100x tissue culture infective dose 50% (TCID50) and also by the disk-diffusion method at the higher non-toxic concentration of the extract (119 μg/mL). Phytochemical analysis of the methanol extract proved the presence of carbohydrates, tannins, flavonoids, coumarins, alkaloids and triterpenes. Chromatographic separation of the methanol extract resulted in the isolation and identification of β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, lupeol, ursolic acid, naringenin, luteolin, quercetin, vitexin, quercetin 3-O-β-glucoside and rutin. The results indicated that F. vasta aerial parts methanol extract is potential candidate for experiments of biological activity screening that are not anti-HSV-1 or antibacterial against the strains evaluated in this study, to be carried on in the future.
RESUMO
This study deals with the evaluation of in vitro cytotoxicity of the methanol 80% extract of Ficus vasta aerial parts in Vero cells, anti-HSV-1 and antibacterial activities and the determination of the phytochemical content of the F. vasta methanol extract. The extract was tested for its cytotoxicity in Vero cells and for anti-HSV-1 and against bacterial strains as S. aureus, S. epidermidis, E. coli and P. aeruginosa and also phytochemical constituents were detected. The results showed that this extract presented a CC50 value of 389 μg/mL, an intermediate value taking into account other researchers reported for some Moraceae species. Regarding the other biological activities, antiviral effect was not demonstrated by a HSV-1 challenge dilution of 100x tissue culture infective dose 50% (TCID50) and also by the disk-diffusion method at the higher non-toxic concentration of the extract (119 μg/mL). Phytochemical analysis of the methanol extract proved the presence of carbohydrates, tannins, flavonoids, coumarins, alkaloids and triterpenes. Chromatographic separation of the methanol extract resulted in the isolation and identification of β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, lupeol, ursolic acid, naringenin, luteolin, quercetin, vitexin, quercetin 3-O-β-glucoside and rutin. The results indicated that F. vasta aerial parts methanol extract is potential candidate for experiments of biological activity screening that are not anti-HSV-1 or antibacterial against the strains evaluated in this study, to be carried on in the future.