Antiplasmodial activity of New Caledonia and Vanuatu traditional medicines.

Context: With the emergence of strains multiresistant to antimalarial drugs, the search for new active molecules remains a priority. Ethnopharmacology appears to be a good method of selection in such investigations.

Objective: The aim of this research work is to select plants used in Melanesian traditional medicine, in New Caledonia and Vanuatu, which should be a promising source for the isolation of new antimalarial drugs.

Chemical investigations of essential oils from endemic Cupressaceae trees from New Caledonia.

The volatile components obtained by hydrodistillation of leaves of C. neocaledonica Dummer, C. sulcata (Parlatore) Schlechter and N.

Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of the essential oils from New Caledonian Citrus macroptera and Citrus hystrix.

The essential oils from the leaves of Citrus macroptera and C. hystrix, collected in New Caledonia, have been analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and evaluated for their antimicrobial activity. A total of 35 and 38 constituents were identified, representing 99.

Antiparasitic activity of some New Caledonian medicinal plants.

Twenty-nine extracts of 18 medicinal plants used in New Caledonia by traditional healers to treat inflammation, fever and in cicatrizing remedies were evaluated in vitro against several parasites (Leishmania donovani, Trypanosoma brucei brucei, Trichomonas vaginalis and Caenorhabditis elegans). Among the selected plants, Scaevola balansae and Premna serratifolia L. were the most active against Leishmania donovani with IC(50) values between 5 and 10microg/ml.

Bioassay-guided isolation of antifungal alkaloids from Melochia odorata.

An alkaloidal extract of the leaves of Melochia odorata exhibited antifungal activity against Candida albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae using a TLC bioautographic method. Bioassay-guided fractionation of this extract using separation by normal and reverse high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) resulted in the isolation of two active compounds identified as frangulanine, a cyclic peptide alkaloid, and waltherione-A, a quinolinone alkaloid.

seco-Cycloartane triterpenes from Gardenia aubryi.

Three new 3,4-seco-cycloartanes, secaubryenol (1), secaubrytriol (2), and secaubryolide (3), were isolated from an exudate collected on the aerial parts of Gardenia aubryi, in addition to the known (24S)-cycloartane-24,25-diol-3-one, coccinetane A, herbacetin 3,8-dimethyl ether, hibiscetin 3,8,3',4'-tetramethyl ether, and conyzatin. The structures of 1 and 2 were established by mass spectrometry and NMR experiments, while the relative configuration of 2 was defined unequivocally using X-ray crystallography. The in vitro cytotoxic activity of compounds 1-3 was evaluated against four human solid tumor cell lines.

Hepatic injury due to traditional aqueous extracts of kava root in New Caledonia.

Traditional aqueous kava extracts were the most probable cause of hepatitis in two patients presenting with markedly elevated transaminases and hyperbilirubinaemia. A consequent survey of 27 heavy kava drinkers in New Caledonia showed elevated gamma glutamyl transferase in 23/27 and minimally elevated transaminases in 8/27. We conclude that not only commercially available, but also traditionally prepared kava extracts may rarely cause liver injury.