2. Academic Validation
  3. Transmission blocking effects of neem (Azadirachta indica) seed kernel limonoids on Plasmodium berghei early sporogonic development

Transmission blocking effects of neem (Azadirachta indica) seed kernel limonoids on Plasmodium berghei early sporogonic development

  • Fitoterapia. 2016 Oct:114:122-126. doi: 10.1016/j.fitote.2016.09.008.
Sofia Tapanelli 1,  Giuseppina Chianese 2,  Leonardo Lucantoni 3,  Rakiswendé Serge Yerbanga 4,  Annette Habluetzel 5,  Orazio Taglialatela-Scafati 6
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 School of Pharmacy, University of Camerino, Piazza dei Costanti, 62032 Camerino, MC, Italy.
  • 2 Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II, Via Montesano 49, 80131 Naples, Italy.
  • 3 Discovery Biology, Eskitis Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University, Nathan, 4111, Queensland, Australia.
  • 4 Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé, 01BP545 Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso.
  • 5 School of Pharmacy, University of Camerino, Piazza dei Costanti, 62032 Camerino, MC, Italy. Electronic address: annette.habluetzel@unicam.it.
  • 6 Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II, Via Montesano 49, 80131 Naples, Italy. Electronic address: scatagli@unina.it.
PMID: 27642038 DOI: 10.1016/j.fitote.2016.09.008
Abstract

Azadirachta indica, known as neem tree and traditionally called "nature's drug store" makes part of several African pharmacopeias and is widely used for the preparation of homemade remedies and commercial preparations against various illnesses, including malaria. Employing a bio-guided fractionation approach, molecules obtained from A. indica ripe and green fruit kernels were tested for activity against early sporogonic stages of Plasmodium berghei, the Parasite stages that develop in the mosquito mid gut after an infective blood meal. The limonoid deacetylnimbin (3) was identified as one the most active compounds of the extract, with a considerably higher activity compared to that of the close analogue nimbin (2). Pure deacetylnimbin (3) appeared to interfere with transmissible Plasmodium stages at a similar potency as azadirachtin A. Considering its higher thermal and chemical stability, deacetylnimbin could represent a suitable alternative to azadirachtin A for the preparation of transmission blocking antimalarials.

Keywords

Azadirachta indica; Deacetylnimbin; Malaria; Neem; Transmission blocking.

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