Trypanocidal effect of alcoholic extract of Castanedia santamartensis (Asteraceae) leaves is based on altered mitochondrial function.

The deficit of effective treatments for Chagas disease has led to searching for new substances with therapeutic potential. Natural products possess a wide variety of chemical structural motifs and are thus a valuable source of diverse lead compounds for the development of new drugs. Castanedia santamartensis is endemic to Colombia, and local indigenous communities often use it to treat skin sores from leishmaniasis; however, its mechanism of action against the infective form of Trypanosoma cruzi has not been determined. Thus, we performed chemical and biological studies of two alcoholic leaf extracts of C. santamartensis to identify their active fractions and relate them to a trypanocidal effect and evaluate their mechanism of action. Alcoholic extracts were obtained through cold maceration at room temperature and fractionated using classical column chromatography. Both ethanolic and methanolic extracts displayed activity against T. cruzi. Chemical studies revealed that kaurenoic acid was the major component of one fraction of the methanolic extract and two fractions of the ethanolic extract of C. santamartensis leaves. Moreover, caryophyllene oxide, kaurenol, taraxasterol acetate, pentadecanone, and methyl and ethyl esters of palmitate, as well as a group of phenolic compounds, including ferulic acid, caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, myricetin, quercitrin, and cryptochlorogenic acid were identified in the most active fractions. Kaurenoic acid and the most active fractions CS400 and CS402 collapsed the mitochondrial membrane potential in trypomastigotes, demonstrating for the first time the likely mechanism against T. cruzi, probably due to interactions with other components of the fractions.

Plantas medicinales usadas por los Cogui en el río Palomino, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (Colombia) / Medicinal plants used by the Cogui at Palomino river, Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta (Colombia)

Con el propósito de registrar conocimientos tradicionales sobre plantas medicinales entre los Cogui o Kággaba en la cuenca del río Palomino, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (Colombia), se evaluó el uso de la flora con la aplicación de una técnica etnobotánica cuantitativa. Mediante entrevistas a mamos o sacerdotes-jefes, durante recorridos en áreas silvestres, cultivadas y huertos caseros en diferentes zonas climáticas de la cuenca, se obtuvo información de 189 especies utilizadas, incluidas en 162 géneros y 77 familias, así como el modo de uso y la forma de preparación para el tratamiento de enfermedades comunes. Las familias Asteraceae y Leguminosae registraron el mayor número de especies útiles. La evaluación con el índice de importancia relativa (IR) permitió establecer que Ladenbergia moritziana (Rubiaceae), Stevia lucida (Asteraceae), Aniba sp. (Lauraceae), Erechtites hieracifolia (Asteraceae) y Carex sp. (Cyperaceae) son las especies con mayores valores de importancia. El 89 % de las plantas utilizadas es obtenido de espacios silvestres, lo que sugiere un conocimiento amplio de la diversidad vegetal local y el ejercicio de una práctica etnomédica