The antiprotozoal activity of Papua New Guinea propolis and its triterpenes

Alenezi, S. S. et al. (2022) The antiprotozoal activity of Papua New Guinea propolis and its triterpenes. Molecules, 27(5), 1622. (doi: 10.3390/molecules27051622) (PMID:35268726) (PMCID:PMC8911803)

Abstract

Profiling a propolis sample from Papua New Guinea (PNG) using high-resolution mass spectrometry indicated that it contained several triterpenoids. Further fractionation by column chromatography and medium-pressure liquid chromatography (MPLC) followed by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) identified 12 triterpenoids. Five of these were obtained pure and the others as mixtures of two or three compounds. The compounds identified were: mangiferonic acid, ambonic acid, isomangiferolic acid, ambolic acid, 27-hydroxyisomangiferolic acid, cycloartenol, cycloeucalenol, 24-methylenecycloartenol, 20-hydroxybetulin, betulin, betulinic acid and madecassic acid. The fractions from the propolis and the purified compounds were tested in vitro against Crithidia fasciculata, Trypanosoma congolense, drug-resistant Trypanosoma congolense, Trypanosoma b. brucei and multidrug-resistant Trypanosoma b. brucei (B48). They were also assayed for their toxicity against U947 cells. The compounds and fractions displayed moderate to high activity against parasitic protozoa but only low cytotoxicity against the mammalian cells. The most active isolated compound, 20-hydroxybetulin, was found to be trypanostatic when different concentrations were tested against T. b. brucei growth.

• Item Type: Articles
• Keywords: Triterpenes, T. brucei, T. congolense, Papua New Guinea, propolis, U947 cells.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Ungogo, Mr Marzuq and Ebiloma, Mr Godwin and De Koning, Professor Harry and Natto, Dr Manal and Igoli, Dr John

Creator Roles

Ebiloma, G. U.: Methodology, Supervision
Natto, M. J.: Methodology, Supervision
Ungogo, M. A.: Methodology, Supervision
Igoli, J. O.: Data curation, Formal analysis, Writing – review and editing
de Koning, H. P.: Data curation, Methodology, Formal analysis, Resources, Writing – review and editing, Supervision

• Authors: Alenezi, S. S., Alenezi, N. D., Ebiloma, G. U., Natto, M. J., Ungogo, M. A., Igoli, J. O., Ferro, V. A., Gray, A. I., Fearnley, J., de Koning, H. P., and Watson, D. G.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity
• Journal Name: Molecules
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 1420-3049
• ISSN (Online): 1420-3049
• Published Online: 01 March 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Molecules 27(5): 1622
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License