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Cryptolepine is the major alkaloid of the West African shrub, Cryptolepis sanguinolenta. Cryptolepine has been shown to inhibit nitric oxide production, and DNA binding of Nuclear Factor-kappa B following inflammatory stimuli in vitro. In order to validate the anti-inflammatory property of this compound in vivo, we investigated its effects on a number of animal models of inflammation. Cryptolepine (10-40 mg/kg i.p.) produced significant dose-dependent inhibition of the carrageenan-induced rat paw oedema, and carrageenan-induced pleurisy in rats. These effects were compared with those of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug indomethacin (10 mg/kg). At doses of 10-40 mg/kg i.p., cryptolepine inhibited lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced microvascular permeability in mice in a dose-related fashion. Oral administration of up to 40 mg/kg of the compound for four consecutive days did not induce gastric lesion formation in rats. Analgesic activity was also exhibited by cryptolepine through a dose-related (10-40 mg/kg i.p.) inhibition of writhing induced by i.p. administration of acetic acid in mice. The results of this study reveal that cryptolepine possesses in vivo anti-inflammatory activity.

The ethanol extract (95%) of the root of the plant Cryptolepis buchanani (EECB) was investigated for immunomodulatory activity in mice and rats. The oral administration of EECB caused significant stimulation of the delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction and humoral antibody production. The oral LD 50 was found to be more than 3 g/kg in both rats and mice. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The activity of cryptolepine hydrochloride, a salt of the main indoloquinoline alkaloid from the West African medicinal plant Cryptolepis sanguinolenta, was assessed against the fast growing mycobacterial species Mycobacterium fortuitum, which has recently been shown to be of use in the evaluation of antitubercular drugs. The low minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of this compound (16 microg/mL) prompted further evaluation against other fast growing mycobacteria namely, M. phlei, M. aurum, M. smegmatis, M. bovis BCG and M. abcessus and the MICs ranged over 2-32 microg/mL for these species. The strong activity of this agent, the need for new antibiotics with activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, coupled with the ethnobotanical use of C. sanguinolenta extracts to treat infections, highlight the potential of the cryptolepine template for development of antimycobacterial agents.