Novel antiplasmodial agents from Christia vespertilionis

The roots, leaves and stems of Christia vespertilionis were separately and successively extracted with methanol and aqueous-methanol (1:4, v/v) and were evaluated in vitro for their antiplasmodial potential against Plasmodium falciparum NF-54. The aqueous-methanolic stem (AS) extract was the most active (IC50 7.5 microg/mL) followed by the methanolic leaf (ML) extract (IC50 32.0 microg/mL). The in vivo antimalarial activity of the combined plant extract of C. vespertilionis was also assessed in P. berghei infected mice, which showed 87.8% suppression of parasitaemia as compared with complete suppression by chloroquine on day 8. Finally, detailed chemical investigation of C. vespertilionis resulted in the isolation and characterization of fifteen compounds (1-15), of which two (1 and 4) are being reported for the first time from nature. The novel compound 1 possesses potent antiplasmodial activity (IC50 = 9.0 microg/mL).