Medicinal plants in tropical medicine. 1. Medicinal plants against protozoal diseases

The active principles obtained from some of the traditional medicinal plants which are used worldwide for the treatment of protozoal diseases are reviewed. Among the active molecules considered from recent literature are bisbenzylisoquinoline, protoberberine and indole alkaloids, sesquiterpenes, quassinoids and limonoids. This review indicates that there are many antiprotozoal natural products already known which require further scientific investigation. There is a strong possibility that other antiprotozoal compounds with novel chemical structures and potentially novel modes of action will be discovered in plants.