TY - JOUR
T1 - Antimalarial Activity of Aqueous Extracts of Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus L.) and Benzyl Isothiocyanate.
AU - Pintão, Ana Maria
AU - Santos, Tiago
AU - Nogueira, Fátima
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was funded by Funda\u00E7\u00E3o para a Ci\u00EAncia e Tecnologia through projects GHTMUID/04413/2020 and LA-REAL-LA/P/0117/2020.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 by the authors.
PY - 2024/5/15
Y1 - 2024/5/15
N2 - Malaria remains an important and challenging infectious disease, and novel antimalarials are required. Benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC), the main breakdown product of benzyl glucosinolate, is present in all parts of
Tropaeolum majus L. (
T. majus) and has antibacterial and antiparasitic activities. To our knowledge, there is no information on the effects of BITC against malaria. The present study evaluates the antimalarial activity of aqueous extracts of BITC and
T. majus seeds, leaves, and stems. We used flow cytometry to calculate the growth inhibition (GI) percentage of the extracts and BITC against unsynchronized cultures of the chloroquine-susceptible
Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 - GFP strain. Extracts and/or compounds with at least 70% GI were validated by IC50 estimation against
P. falciparum 3D7 - GFP and Dd2 (chloroquine-resistant strain) unsynchronized cultures by flow cytometry, and the resistance index (RI) was determined.
T. majus aqueous extracts showed some antimalarial activity that was higher in seeds than in leaves or stems. BITC's GI was comparable to chloroquine's. BITC's IC50 was similar in both strains; thus, a cross-resistance absence with aminoquinolines was found (RI < 1). BITC presented features that could open new avenues for malaria drug discovery.
AB - Malaria remains an important and challenging infectious disease, and novel antimalarials are required. Benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC), the main breakdown product of benzyl glucosinolate, is present in all parts of
Tropaeolum majus L. (
T. majus) and has antibacterial and antiparasitic activities. To our knowledge, there is no information on the effects of BITC against malaria. The present study evaluates the antimalarial activity of aqueous extracts of BITC and
T. majus seeds, leaves, and stems. We used flow cytometry to calculate the growth inhibition (GI) percentage of the extracts and BITC against unsynchronized cultures of the chloroquine-susceptible
Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 - GFP strain. Extracts and/or compounds with at least 70% GI were validated by IC50 estimation against
P. falciparum 3D7 - GFP and Dd2 (chloroquine-resistant strain) unsynchronized cultures by flow cytometry, and the resistance index (RI) was determined.
T. majus aqueous extracts showed some antimalarial activity that was higher in seeds than in leaves or stems. BITC's GI was comparable to chloroquine's. BITC's IC50 was similar in both strains; thus, a cross-resistance absence with aminoquinolines was found (RI < 1). BITC presented features that could open new avenues for malaria drug discovery.
KW - Plasmodium falciparum
KW - Tropaeolum majus L
KW - antimalarials
KW - benzyl isothiocyanate
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85194218282&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/molecules29102316
DO - 10.3390/molecules29102316
M3 - Article
C2 - 38792178
SN - 1420-3049
VL - 29
JO - Molecules (Basel, Switzerland)
JF - Molecules (Basel, Switzerland)
IS - 10
M1 - 2316
ER -
