Antiparasitic metabolites from hyptis brevipes, a tacana medicinal plant

Abstract

A bioassay screening against protozoa parasites of several Tacana medicinal plants gave Hyptis brevipes (Id'ene eidhue), traditionally used as decoction for intestinal parasites, as the most active extract. In this work we did a bioguided isolation of active constituents found in leaves. Structure elucidation was carried out by NMR spectroscopy and MS spectrometry analyses. Active constituents showed differentiated activity towards Giardia lamblia, Trypanosoma cruzi, several Leishmania strains, Plasmodium falciparum and cytotoxicity against HeLa cells. Brevipolide H (1) was the less cytotoxic and best antiparasitic, while the catechol derivative (2) the most active and cytotoxic.