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Luvunga scandens is traditionally used for malaria, antibacterial, antifungal, antidote to snake bites, and against scorpion stings. Based on the ethnomedicine approach, we focus to explored the antimalarial effect of L. scandens. The stem and leaves of L. scandens were gradually extracted with n-hexane, dichloromethane, and methanol. All samples were examined antimalarial against Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 and cytotoxicities against HepG2 cell lines. The active extract was fractionated by Vacuum Liquid Chromatography (VLC) and the fractions obtained were further tested for antimalarial and cytotoxicity. The most potent extracts against P. falciparum were the dichloromethane extracts of L. scandens leaves (LS-L-D) and stem (LS-S-D), with IC50 values of (6.61±0.04 µg/mL) and (5.38±0.01 µg/mL), respectively. Both extracts were found to be safe and effective because their selectivity indices (SI) values were greater than 2. Based on the antimalarial activity, toxicity, and percentage of yield, we fractionated LS-L-D using VLC, and obtained 26 fractions (F1-F26). Fraction 23 (F23) was identified as the most active fraction with an IC50 value of 2.44±0.09 µg/mL and CC50 value of 46.35±0.03. The HPLC profile of F23 shows several peaks. The major peak has a UV spectrum with maximum absorption at wavelengths of 247, 257, and 322 nm, respectively, indicating the characteristics of the flavonoid compound group, especially isoflavones. This data suggested that isoflavones possibly take a role in the antimalarial activity of fraction 23. Further study needs to be conducted to isolate and identify the active compounds from this fraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malaria is one of the tropical diseases that become a health problem worldwide. The elimination of this disease faced various burdens, leading to the need for new antimalarial drugs. Based on the previously reported antimalarial activity of Artocarpus genus, Artocarpus sericicarpus has been selected as one of the candidates which are potential to be explored as a source of antimalarial substances. This study aimed to obtain active antimalarial fractions from A. sericicarpus leaves. Extraction of A. sericicarpus leaves was conducted by ultrasonic-assisted extraction using nhexane, dichloromethane, and methanol as solvents. All extracts were tested for their antimalarial activity by Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH) assay. The most active extract was fractionated by Vacuum Liquid Chromatography (VLC) and fractions were further tested by LDH assay as well. Cytotoxicity test conducted by resazurin assay on several cell lines to determine the active and nontoxic fractions which have the potential to be further purified and identified the active substances. The n-hexane, dichloromethane, and methanol extract showed antimalarial activity with IC50 values of 23.96±0.06 μg/mL, 2.72±0.08 μg/mL, and 23.39±0.05 μg/mL, respectively. Dichloromethane extract was chosen for further separation due to its highest antimalarial activity. The separation was obtained in nine fractions. Fractions 2-9 had an IC50 value of less than 10 μg/mL, indicating an active antimalarial substance. Meanwhile, fraction 1 has moderate antimalarial activity. Cytotoxicity test results considered all fractions to be non-toxic. The TLC profile of dichloromethane extract identified polyphenolic compounds, suggesting the active polyphenolic compounds can be further isolated from the active fractions (F2-F9). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Treatments of hepatitis C virus have been developed and increased the sustained virology response (SVR), however, there are several reports of drug resistance, high-cost issue, and limited access to current hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment that remain become a problem. This necessitates to search for complementary and alternative drugs against HCV, therefore the investigation of active compounds from plant extracts such as Melicope latifolia, a plant that has been reported as anti-HCV, will be provided in this study. The anti-HCV activities were tested using in vitro cultured cells of hepatocyte cell line Huh 7.5 and HCV genotype 2a (J6/JFH1). Ethanol extract of M. latifolia leaves was separated by chromatographic methods and the chemical structures of the isolated compounds were established based on mass spectrometry, 1D, and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance spectral data, as well as comparison with reported data. The interaction of the compound with the protein, which involves to HCV activity, was determined by docking analysis. Three known methoxyflavone compounds identified as 5,4'-dihydroxy-7-prenyloxy-3,8,5'-trimethoxyflavone (1); 5,3'-dihydroxy-3,7,8,4'-tetramethoxyflavone (2); and 5-hydroxy-3,7,8,3',4'-pentamethoxyflavone (3) were isolated from the ethanolic extract of M. latifolia leaves. Anti-HCV activities revealed that compound (1) strongly inhibited HCV J6/JFH1 with a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) value of 6.7±0.4 µg/mL and 50% cytotoxic concentration (CC50) of 19.3 µg/mL. The docking analysis revealed an interaction with the 4GAG, a protein that involves in the entry step of HCV, and the 4EAW protein which plays an important role during HCV replication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The combination of Luvunga sarmentosa and Eurycoma longifolia is widely prescribed in traditional medicine by the local Dayak tribe in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. The study aimed to evaluate the effect of antioxidants and analgesics from the combination of hydro-alcoholic extract of L. sarmentosa and E. longifolia stem. The phytochemical investigation was performed using an established method described in the literature. The total phenolic content was determined by the Folin Ciocalteu, whereas the flavonoid was determined by aluminum chloride. The in vitro antioxidant activity was determined using DPPH free radical scavenging assay. The analgesic effect was determined by acetic acid-induced writhing and hot plate tests in male mice. The result shows that combination extract (CE, IC50 162.5±0.21 μg/mL) had higher antioxidant activity than L. sarmentosa extract (LSE, IC50 200.20±0.23 μg/mL) and E. longifolia extract (ELE, IC50 293.45±0.32 μg/mL). All extracts showed significant dose-dependent analgesic activity against acetic acid-induced writhing and hot plate pain models. A higher dose of CE, LSE, and ELE (550 mg/kg) produced significant inhibition of writhing by 67.60±2.76, 56.45±2.34, and 68.64±1.65%, respectively. The maximum possible analgesia of CE, LSE, and ELE in the hot plate test at 550 mg/kg BW dose was 25.32%, 16.04%, and 26.72%. CE has higher analgesic activity than LSE and ELE. The extracts are more effective for peripheral than central analgesia. Its mechanism may be related to inhibiting the inflammatory mediator's release. The high antioxidant and analgesic activity at CE is relevant to the higher total flavones and phenols compared to LSE and ELE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The marine sponges with their unique and wide range of biodiversity, producing unusual metabolites emerge as a good candidate for new therapeutic agents, including as acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitor. The aims of this study are to evaluate the potency of fractions and isolated compound from Agelas nakamurai as AChE inhibitor, as well as to determine the structure of the isolated compound. The bioassay-guided isolation protocol was carried out in this study. The AChE inhibitory assay was carried out based on the modified Ellman's method. The structure of the isolated compound was determined by NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. A diterpene alkaloid was isolated from the active fraction of A. nakamurai. This compound exhibited a molecular ion at m/z 422.3280 [M]+ in mass spectrometry. The UV profile of the isolated compound showed a strong peak at 269 nm, and the specific rotation value is [α]20D +28,0 (MeOH, c 0.25). These data together with the ¹H and 13C NMR spectroscopy data are similar to that reported for iso-agelasine C. The isolated iso-agelasine C gave moderate inhibition against AChE enzyme with an IC50 value of 30.68 ± 0.92 μg/mL, which was lower compared to the extract and fractions. The stronger AChE inhibitory activity in the extract and fractions is possibly due to the synergistic activity of compounds present in the extract and fractions of A. nakamurai. Iso-agelasine C could serve as a lead for the development of diterpene alkaloid as an AChE inhibitor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]