Table 2.
Plants used in Cameroon to treat malaria, with evidence of their activities.
| Family | Speciesa | Traditional treatment | Plant part used | Bioactive (or potentially active) compoundsb | Screened activity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acanthaceae | Thomandersia hensii De Wild and Th. Dur (LB Th 0301) | Malaria, diarrhea, colitis, furuncles, abscesses, syphilis, ulcers, urogenital disorders, intestinal parasites, debility, tiredness, edema, rheumatism, eye inflammations (Letouzey, 1985; Ngadjui et al., 1994). | Bark, leaves, pulp, sap, roots | Not identified | IC50 < 30 μg/ml reported for hexane extract from the stem bark on P. falciparum W2 (Indochina I/CDC) chloroquine-resistant strain (Bickii et al., 2007b) |
| Annonaceae | Uvariopsis congolana (De Wild) Fries (37016/HNC) | Malaria (Boyom et al., 2009) | Bark, leaves | Not identified, but plants of this family were reported to contain acetogeninsc | IC50 < 5 μg/ml reported for the crude extract from the leaves and bark on P. falciparum strain W2 (Boyom et al., 2009) |
| Polyalthia oliveri Engl. (19416 SRF/Cam) | Malaria (Boyom et al., 2009) | Bark | IC50 < 5 μg/ml reported for the crude extract from the bark on P. falciparum strain W2 (Boyom et al., 2009) | ||
| Enantia chlorantha Oliv. (32065/SRF/Cam) | Malaria (Boyom et al., 2009) | Bark, leaves | Not identified | IC50 < 1 μg/ml reported with the crude extract from the leaves and bark on P. falciparum strain W2 (Boyom et al., 2009) | |
| Apocynaceae | Picralima nitida Stapf (LB Pn 0301) | Malaria, diarrhoea, intestinal worms, gonorrhoea, inflammation (Letouzey, 1985; Ezeamuzie et al., 1994; Fakeye et al., 2000) | Bark, roots, seeds; fruits | Not identified | IC50 < 30 μg/ml reported for the methanol and dichloromethane–methanol 1:1 extracts from the seeds and bark on P. falciparum W2 (Indochina I/CDC) chloroquine-resistant strain (Bickii et al., 2007b) |
| Euphorbiaceae | Croton zambesicus Muell. Arg. (8204/SRFCam) | Malaria (Boyom et al., 2009) | Bark | Not identified | IC50 < 10 μg/ml reported for the crude extract from the bark on P. falciparum strain W2 (Boyom et al., 2009) |
| Neoboutonia glabrescens Müll. Arg. Prain (7433/SRFCam) | Malaria (Boyom et al., 2009) | Bark, leaves | Not identified | IC50 < 10 μg/ml reported for the crude extract from the leaves and bark on P. falciparum strain W2 (Boyom et al., 2009) | |
| Guttiferae | Symphonia globulifera Linn f. (50788/HNC) | Stomach and skin aches, laxative for pregnant women, general tonic, Malaria (Aubreville, 1950; Irvine, 1961; Ngouela et al., 2006). | Bark | Gaboxanthone (38); symphonin (39); globuliferin (40); guttiferone A (50) (Ngouela et al., 2006). | IC50 <20 μM on P. falciparum reported for compounds 38–40 and 50 (Ngouela et al., 2006). |
| Lauraceae | Beilschmiedia zenkeri Engl. | Not reported | Bark | 5-Hydroxy-7,8-dimethoxyflavone; pipyahyine; betulinic acid (Lenta et al., 2009) | IC50 <5 μM on chloroquine-resistant P. falciparum reported for pipyahyine (Lenta et al., 2009) |
| Meliaceae | Entandrophragma angolense Welwitsch C.D.C. (29933/HNC) | Malaria (Bickii et al., 2007a) | Bbark | 22-Hydroxyhopan-3-one; 24-methylenecycloartenol (8); tricosanoic acid; methylangolensate; 7α-acetoxydihydronomilin (9); 7α-obacunylacetate (10) (Bickii et al., 2007a) | IC50 < 20 μg/ml on P. falciparum W2 strain reported for compounds 8–10. The dichloromethane – methanol (1:1) extract of the stem bark of that plant exhibited IC50 of 18.8 μg/ml (Bickii et al., 2007a) |
| Khaya grandifoliola C.D.C. (PM 098/95/HNC) | Malaria (Obih et al., 1985; Bray et al., 1990; Weenen et al., 1990). | Bark and seeds | Methylangolensate (1); 6-methylhydroxyangolensate (2); gedunin (3); catechin; 7-deacetylkhivorin (4); 1-deacetylkhivorin (5); swietenolide (6); 6-acetylswietenolide (7) (Bickii et al., 2000) | IC50 < 20 μg/ml on P. falciparum W2 strain reported for bark and seeds extracts; compounds 1–7. Compound 3 exhibited an additive effect when combined with chloroquine (Bickii et al., 2000) | |
| Turreanthus africanus | Malaria and other fevers (Zhou et al., 1997) | Bark, seeds, leaves | 16-oxolabda-8 (17), 12(E)-dien-15-oic acid; methyl-14, 15-epoxylabda-8 (17), 12(E)-diene-16-oate; turreanin A (Ngemenya et al., 2006) | None of the active compounds exhibited IC50 < 20 μg/ml on P. falciparum F 32, chloroquine sensitive strain (Ngemenya et al., 2006) | |
| Moraceae | Artocarpus communis J.R. & G. Forst (43982 HNC) | Malaria (Boyom et al., 2009) | Bark, leaves | Not identified | IC50 < 10 μg/ml reported for the crude extract from the leaves and bark on P. falciparum strain W2 (Boyom et al., 2009) |
| Dorstenia convexa De Wild (53450 HNC) | Malaria (Boyom et al., 2009) | Twigs | Not identified | IC50 < 10 μg/ml reported with the crude extract from the twigs on P. falciparum strain W2 (Boyom et al., 2009) | |
| Zingiberaceae | Aframomum zambesiacum (Baker) K. Schum (37737HNY) | Malaria (Kenmogne et al., 2006) | Seeds | Aulacocarpin A (11); aulacocarpin B; 3-deoxyaulacocarpin A (12); methyl-14n,15-epoxy-3b-hydroxy-8(17),12-elabdadien-16-oate; galanolactone; zambesiacolactone A (13); zambesiacolactone B (14); aframodial (Kenmogne et al., 2006) | IC50 < 20 μM on P. falciparum reported for compounds 11–14 (Kenmogne et al., 2006) |
| Reneilmia cincinnata (K. Schum.) Bak. | Malaria (Tchuendem et al., 1999) | Fruits | Oplodiol (17); 5E,10(14)-Germacradien-1β,4β-diol (16); 1(10)E,5E-germacradien-4β-ol (15) (Tchuendem et al., 1999) | IC50 < 5 μM reported on P. falciparum D6 and W2 strains for compounds 15–17 on P. falciparum D6 strain (Tchuendem et al., 1999 |
aHNC or SRFK: Cameroon National herbarium code; LB, Laboratory of Botany, Yaoundé.
bCompounds characterized for the first time in Cameroonian medicinal plant are underlined.