1 research outputs found
The Search for New Antimalarial Drugs from Plants Used to Treat Fever and Malaria or Plants Ramdomly Selected: a Review
In this review we discuss the ongoing situation of human malaria in the
Brazilian Amazon, where it is endemic causing over 610,000 new acute
cases yearly, a number which is on the increase. This is partly a
result of drug resistant parasites and new antimalarial drugs are
urgently needed. The approaches we have used in the search of new drugs
during decades are now reviewed and include ethnopharmocology, plants
randomly selected, extracts or isolated substances from plants shown to
be active against the blood stage parasites in our previous studies.
Emphasis is given on the medicinal plant Bidens pilosa , proven
to be active against the parasite blood stages in tests using freshly
prepared plant extracts. The anti-sporozoite activity of one plant used
in the Brazilian endemic area to prevent malaria is also described, the
so called "Indian beer" (Ampelozizyphus amazonicus , Rhamnaceae
). Freshly prepared extracts from the roots of this plant were
totally inactive against blood stage parasites, but active against
sporozoites of Plasmodium gallinaceum or the primary
exoerythrocytic stages reducing tissue parasitism in inoculated
chickens. This result will be of practical importance if confirmed in
mammalian malaria. Problems and perspectives in the search for
antimalarial drugs are discussed as well as the toxicological and
clinical trials to validate some of the active plants for public health
use in Brazil