Amaryllidaceae plants: a potential natural resource for the treatment of Chagas disease

BackgroundChagas disease is a neglected zoonosis caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. It affects over six million people, mostly in Latin America. Drugs available to treat T. cruzi infection have associated toxicity and questionable efficacy at the chronic stage. Hence, the discovery of more effective and safer drugs is an unmet medical need. For this, natural products represent a pool of unique chemical diversity that can serve as excellent templates for the synthesis of active molecules.MethodsA collection of 79 extracts of Amaryllidaceae plants were screened against T. cruzi. Active extracts against the parasite were progressed through two cell toxicity assays based on Vero and HepG2 cells to determine their selectivity profile and discard those toxic to host cells. Anti-T. cruzi-specific extracts were further qualified by an anti-amastigote stage assay.ResultsTwo extracts, respectively from Crinum erubescens and Rhodophiala andicola, were identified as highly active and specific against T. cruzi and its mammalian replicative form.ConclusionsThe results retrieved in this study encourage further exploration of the chemical content of these extracts in search of new anti-T. cruzi drug development starting points.

Automated summary

Two extracts from Amaryllidaceae plants were identified as highly active and specific against T. cruzi and its mammalian replicative form. These results suggest that further exploration of the chemical content in these extracts may lead to new starting points for the development of anti-T. cruzi drugs.