In vitro evaluation of the amebicidal activity of Buddleia cordata (Loganiaceae, H.B.K.) on several strains of Acanthamoeba

• Published in: Journal of ethnopharmacology 1999-09, Vol.66 (3), p.327-334
• Main Authors: Rodrı́guez-Zaragoza, Salvador, Ordaz, Cinthya, Avila, Guillermo, Luis Muñoz, José, Arciniegas, Amira, Romo de Vivar, Alfonso
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acanthamoeba; Acanthamoeba - drug effects; Acanthamoeba - genetics; Amebicides - pharmacology; Analgesics - pharmacology; Animals; Antiamebic compounds; Biological and medical sciences; Buddleia; Free-living amoebae; General pharmacology; Glycosides - isolation & purification; Glycosides - pharmacology; Medical sciences; medicinal plants; Medicine, Traditional; Mexico; Pharmacognosy. Homeopathy. Health food; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Species Specificity; Susceptibility test; traditional medicine; Vanillic Acid - pharmacology
• ISSN: 0378-8741; 1872-7573
• DOI: 10.1016/S0378-8741(98)00186-X

Infectious diseases produced by free-living amoebae from the genus Acanthamoeba have been recently recognized. The need for antiamebic compounds is urgent as the occurrence of these diseases is being registered more frequently since the late sixties. We screened the aqueous and methanolic extract of a plant used by folk medicine ( Buddleia cordata) against eye and skin inflammation for antiamebic activity. We tested the extracts on 29 strains of free-living amoebae, with the result that they were amebostatic for 14 and 15 strains, respectively. We obtained linarin and vanillic acid from the extracts, but only linarin was amebostatic to all the strains and vanillic acid had no activity. However, acetyl vanillic acid had similar effects on amoebae to linarin. Threshold values of these two active compounds ranged from 31.25 μg/ml to 4 mg/ml and from 31.25 μg/ml to 8 mg/ml for linarin and acetyl vanillic acid, respectively. These differences in threshold values were observed even on several strains belonging to the same species (as in the case of A. castellanii and A. polyphaga) indicating the need of susceptibility testing for each clinical isolate of free-living amoebae.