Antiprotozoal Activities of Methanolic Extracts and Three Diterpenoids Isolated from the Root Barks of Erythrophleum ivorense A. Chev. (Fabaceae)

Cutaneous leihmaniasis and human African trypanosomiasis are two neglected tropical diseases.Leishmania and Trypanosomes species are protozoan parasites that affect millions of people worldwide.In the absence of adequate treatment, African trypanosomiasis and cutaneous leishmaniasis are fatal.Available drugs are severely limited by their toxicity, marginal efficacy, the need for parenteral administration and the spread of drug resistance.The genus Erythrophleum is rich in cassaine-type diterpenoid.These compounds have already shown leishmanicidal and trypanicidal activity.The aim of this study was to isolate cassane-type diterpenoids from Erythrophleum ivorense and evaluate them against against Leishmania donovani (promastigote) and Trypanosoma brucei brucei (Trymastigote).Three Cassaine-type diterpenoid amines namely 6-hydroxy-norcassamine (1), Erythrophleguine (2), and nor-cassamine (3) were isolated from the methanolic extracts of the root barks; and their structures were carried out using NMR, UV and MS spectral.Cold methanolic root bark extract (CMex), Reflux methanolic root bark extract (RMex) and isolated compounds (1, 2, 3) showed moderate activities against Leishmania donovani (promastigote) and Trypanosoma brucei brucei (Trymastigote); comparing their values with those of the reference molecules (Pentamidine and Melarsopol).