Spectroscopic exploration of mode of binding of DNA and BSA with acridone alkaloids isolated from (Rutaceae).

is a medicinal plant widely studied due to its great phytochemical diversity, especially its acrinonic alkaloids, which have shown to be promising anticancer candidates. The aim of this work was to promote the isolation of acridonic alkaloids from fruits of and carried out absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy studies with calf thymus DNA and BSA. Five acridone alkaloids have been isolated, including the first description of 3-desmethoxy arborinine ().

Antiproliferative activity of semisynthetic xylopic acid derivatives.

Two -kaurene diterpenoids, -15--acetyloxy-kaur-16-en-19-oic acid (xylopic acid) and -7-oxo-kaur-16-en-19-oic acid were isolated from the fruits of . Chemical manipulation of xylopic acid yielded -kaurane derivatives , , , and . Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis, including 1 D- and 2 D-NMR spectroscopies.

1-Hy-droxy-3,4-dimeth-oxy-10-methyl-acridin-9-one.

There are two independent mol-ecules in the asymmetric unit of the title compound, CHNO, which was isolated from fruits of Zanthoxylum leprieurii. The atoms of the three rings of each mol-ecule are close to coplanar with the largest deviations from the least-squares planes being 0.084 (3) Å and 0.

A new dammarane type triterpene glucoside from the aerial parts of (Rhamnaceae).

3-O--D-glucopyranosyl gouanogenin A (), a new naturally occurring dammarane class of triterpene glucoside, has been isolated from the aerial parts of along with six known secondary metabolites . Their structure was elucidated through spectroscopic data including 1 D- and 2 D-NMR. The compounds and showed significant antioxidant potential in DPPH radical scavenging assay.

Antisecretory Action of the Extract of the Aerial Parts of Eremomastax speciosa (Acanthaceae) Occurs through Antihistaminic and Anticholinergic Pathways.

Objective. The objective of this study was to find out the possible antiulcer mechanism of action of Eremomastax speciosa. Method.

Activities of selected medicinal plants against multi-drug resistant Gram-negative bacteria in Cameroon.

Background: Medicinal plants are used worldwide for several human ailments including bacterial infections. The present work was designed to assess the in vitro antibacterial activities of some Cameroonian medicinal plants including Entada abyssinica, Entada africana, Pentaclethra macrophylla, Allexis cauliflora, Anthocleista leibrechtsiana, Carapa procera, Carica papaya and Persea americana against Gram-negative bacteria expressing multidrug resistant (MDR) phenotypes.

Methods: The microbroth dilution was used to determine the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) of the samples against eight bacterial strains belonging to four species, Escherichia coli, Enterobacter aerogenes, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Providencia stuartii.

Analysis of pan-African Centres of excellence in health innovation highlights opportunities and challenges for local innovation and financing in the continent.

A pool of 38 pan-African Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in health innovation has been selected and recognized by the African Network for Drugs and Diagnostics Innovation (ANDI), through a competitive criteria based process. The process identified a number of opportunities and challenges for health R&D and innovation in the continent: i) it provides a direct evidence for the existence of innovation capability that can be leveraged to fill specific gaps in the continent; ii) it revealed a research and financing pattern that is largely fragmented and uncoordinated, and iii) it highlights the most frequent funders of health research in the continent. The CoEs are envisioned as an innovative network of public and private institutions with a critical mass of expertise and resources to support projects and a variety of activities for capacity building and scientific exchange, including hosting fellows, trainees, scientists on sabbaticals and exchange with other African and non-African institutions.

Antibacterial activity of selected Cameroonian dietary spices ethno-medically used against strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Tuberculosis (TB) is considered as a re-emerging disease and one of the most important public health problems worldwide. The use or (in most cases) misuse of existint anti-tuberculosis drugs over the years has led to an increasing prevalence of resistant strains, establishing an urgent need to search for new effective agents. Spices are largely used ethno-medically across Africa.

Antitrypanosomal and cytotoxic activities of 22-Hydroxyclerosterol, a new sterol from Allexis cauliflora (Violaceae).

In the search for new antiparasitic natural compounds from the medicinal plants from Cameroon, the new 22-hydroxyclerosterol, established as such on the basis of detailed chemical and spectroscopic analysis, was isolated from the hexane extract of the stem bark of Allexis cauliflora together with the known clerosterol. 22-Hydroxyclerosterol inhibited the growth of Trypanosoma brucei brucei cells with an ED(50) value of 1.56 μM.

Antitrypanosomal alkaloids from Polyalthia suaveolens (Annonaceae): their effects on three selected glycolytic enzymes of Trypanosoma brucei.

In continuation of our study on medicinal plants of Cameroon, stem barks of Polyalthia suaveolens were phytochemically studied. This investigation yielded a new indolosesquiterpene alkaloid, named polysin (1) and four hitherto known alkaloids (2-5). Polysin (1) appeared as a competitive reversible inhibitor (K(i)=10 microM) of phosphofructo kinase (PFK) of Trypanosoma brucei with respect to fructose-6-phosphate (K(i)/K(M)=0.

In vitro inhibitory effects of palmatine from Enantia chlorantha on Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania infantum.

In an attempt to establish the components responsible for the use of Enantia chlorantha against cutaneous leishmaniasis in local traditional medicine, a well-known palmatine has been isolated in substantial amounts from a methanolic bark extract of this plant species. Palmatine therein obtained exhibited a significant inhibitory activity on growth of both Trypanosoma cruzi (IC(50) 0.068 microM) and Leishmania infantum (IC(50) 0.

Antitrypanosomal activity of polycarpol from Piptostigma preussi (Annonaceae).

Polycarpol, sitosterol and sitosterol-3-O-beta-D-glucoside isolated for the first time from Piptostigma preussi (Annonaceae) occur regularly in some Annonaceae such as Piptostigma genus. Polycarpol exhibits interesting antitrypanosomal activity with an ED(50) value of 5.11 microM on Trypanosoma brucei cells.

Uapaca genus (Euphorbiaceae), a good source of betulinic acid.

Betulinic acid, isolated in substantial amounts from stem barks of five distinct species of Uapaca could be considered as an important chemotaxomic marker of the Uapaca genus. It inhibited Trypanosoma brucei GAPDH with an IC(50) value of 240 microM and has been shown to be a competitive reversible inhibitor (Ki=200+/-10 microM) of this enzyme with respect to its cofactor NAD(+).

Identification of an anti-inflammatory principle from the stem bark of Millettia versicolor.

The dichloromethane-soluble fraction of the methanol extract of the stem bark of Millettia versicolor Welw. (Leguminosae) has been shown to possess anti-inflammatory activity. The chromatographic fractionation and subsequent analysis of the spectroscopic data of this extract led to the isolation and identification of 2-acetyl-7-methoxynaphtho[2,3- b]furan-4,9-quinone (1) along with two known quinones.

Gastric cytoprotective anti-ulcer effects of the leaf methanol extract of Ocimum suave (Lamiaceae) in rats.

The anti-ulcerogenic potential of the leaf methanol extract of Ocimum suave (Lamiaceae) was investigated using four methods of gastric lesion induction in experimental Wistar rats (150-200 g): (1) HCl/ethanol-induced gastric lesions, (2) Absolute ethanol-induced gastric lesions, (3) Indomethacin-HCl/ethanol-induced gastric lesions, (4) Pylorus ligation-induced gastric lesions. Administration of the extract of O. suave to the rats by oral route (75-500 mg/kg) dose-dependently prevented the formation of acute gastric lesions induced using the four experimental techniques.