Aspidosperma pyrifolium, a medicinal plant from the Brazilian caatinga, displays a high antiplasmodial activity and low cytotoxicity

Abstract

Considering the high therapeutic index of the alkaloidic-rich fraction from stem extract of A. pyrifolium, it makes the species a candidate for further investigation aiming to produce a new anti-malarial, especially considering that the active extract has no toxicity, i.e., no mutagenic effects in the genototoxicity assays, and that it has an in vivo anti-malarial effect. In its UPLC-HRMS analysis this fraction was shown to have two major components compatible with the bisindole alkaloid Leucoridine B, and a novel compound, which is likely to be responsible for the activity against malaria parasites demonstrated in in vitro tests.