Abstract :
[en] Malaria, caused by parasites of the Plasmodium genus, is still a major public health problem today. Indeed, the parasites have developed resistance to the various current treatments, obliging the search for new drugs [1]. Plants are a promising source of new candidates, especially those belonging to the Strychnos genus. During more than two centuries of study of this genus, many antiplasmodial metabolites were isolated and identified, such as 3,4-dihydrousambarensine, isostrychnopentamine, sungucine, and strychnogucine B [2] [3].
Despite these thorough studies, it can be wondered whether the Strychnos genus still contain other promising antiplasmodial metabolites. To answer this question, forty-three methanolic extracts from twenty-eight Strychnos species were tested against the artemisinin-sensitive strain 3D7 of Plasmodium falciparum. In addition, the contents of the extracts were analyzed by LC-MS/MS and explored by molecular networking. Three interesting clusters were highlighted: That of usambarensine and its derivatives, of sungucine and strychnogucine C, and of strychnofoline. Indeed, each of these clusters contains compounds still unknown to this day, with singularities regarding their analogues mentioned above. The confirmed promising antiplasmodial activities for some of these known compounds suggest that these unknown metabolites are potentially active against malaria because of their structural proximity [2] [3].
Therefore, this study answered the initial question in the affirmative. Indeed, it would be interesting to continue to explore the phytochemical profile of plants of the Strychnos genus, which still contain many promising antiplasmodial metabolites to discover.
