Antileishmanial activity of selected South African plant species

In vitro screening of forty extracts prepared from selected South African plant species was conducted against Leishmania donovani (MHOM-ET-67/L82). Crude plant extracts were also subjected to an antiproliferative bioassay in an attempt to determine their potential lethality or safe therapeutic application against rat skeletal myoblast L6 cells. Of all the tested plant species, only 10% exhibited significant leishmanicidal activity with acceptable SI values (SI ≥ 10). The current study is the first scientific account on the significant antileishmanial activity (IC50 ≤ 5 μg/ml) of Bridelia mollis (Phyllanthaceae), Vangueria infausta subsp. infausta (Rubiaceae), Syzygium cordatum (Myrtaceae) and Xylopia parviflora (Annonaceae). Further phytochemical investigations are currently underway in an attempt to isolate and identify the chemical constituents that may be attributable to the leishmanicidal efficacy observed in the study.