A review of natural products with antileishmanial activity.

Infections caused by protozoa of the genus Leishmania are a major worldwide health problem, with high endemicity in developing countries. The incidence of the disease has increased since the emergence of AIDS. In the absence of a vaccine, there is an urgent need for effective drugs to replace/supplement those in current use. The plant kingdom is undoubtedly valuable as a source of new medicinal agents. The present work constitutes a review of the literature on plant extracts and chemically defined molecules of natural origin showing antileishmanial activity. The review refers to 101 plants, their families, and geographical distribution, the parts utilized, the type of extract and the organism tested. It also includes 288 compounds isolated from higher plants and microorganisms, classified into appropriate chemical groups. Some aspects of recent antileishmanial-activity-directed research on natural products are discussed.

Aplicação da termogravimetria (TG) no controle de qualidade da milona (Cissampelos sympodialis Eichl. ) Menispermaceae

This work proposes the application of the thermogravimetry (TG) in the control of quality of Cissampelos sympodialis, known popularly as 'milona'. After the extraction process, the alkaloids became the majority substances and the extracts showed the kinetic behavior of the bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids. This seems to be an important and useful parameter for the quality control of the 'milona' extracts.

Thermal behavior of biflorin by beans TG and a DSC photovisual system

This work proposes thermal characterization, of the biflorine, orto-quinon of Capraria biflora L., through the TG and DSC photovisual data. The thermogravimetric results showed that the decomposition reaction biflorine occurs three steps under air atmosphere, The DSC of biflorin presented five peaks relating to phase transitions. The DSC photovisual system demonstrated changes in biflorin.