Molecules, Vol. 25, Pages 3140: Phytochemical Analysis and Trypanocidal Activity of Marrubium incanum Desr.

Molecules, Vol. 25, Pages 3140: Phytochemical Analysis and Trypanocidal Activity of Marrubium incanum Desr. Molecules doi: 10.3390/molecules25143140 Authors: Claudio Frezza Alessandro Venditti Armandodoriano Bianco Mauro Serafini Massimo Pitorri Fabio Sciubba Maria Enrica Di Cocco Eleonora Spinozzi Loredana Cappellacci Anders Hofer Filippo Maggi Riccardo Petrelli The rationale inspiring the discovery of lead compounds for the treatment of human parasitic protozoan diseases from natural sources is the well-established use of medicinal plants in various systems of traditional medicine. On this basis, we decided to select an overlooked medicinal plant growing in central Italy, Marrubium incanum Desr. (Lamiaceae), which has been used as a traditional remedy against protozoan diseases, and to investigate its potential against Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT). For this purpose, we assayed three extracts of different polarities obtained from the aerial parts of M. incanum—namely, water (MarrInc-H2O), ethanol (MarrInc-EtOH) and dichloromethane (MarrInc-CH2Cl2)—against Trypanosoma brucei (TC221), with the aim to discover lead compounds for the development of antitrypanosomal drugs. Their selectivity index (SI) was determined on mammalian cells (BALB/3T3 mouse fibroblasts) as a counter-screen for toxicity. The preliminary screening selected the MarrInc-CH2Cl2 extract as the most promising candidate against HAT, showing an IC5...
Source: Molecules - Category: Chemistry Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research