Author(s)

Hermine Boukeng Jatsa^1,2,3*, Cintia Aparecida de Jesus Pereira², Ana Bárbara Dias Pereira⁴, Deborah Aparecida Negrão-Corrêa², Fernão Castro Braga⁴, Glauber Meireles Maciel⁵, Rachel Oliviera Castilho⁵, Pierre Kamtchouing¹, Mauro Martins Teixeira³

¹Laboratory of Animal Physiology, Department of Animal Biology and Physiology, Faculty of Science, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
²Laboratory of Schistosomiasis, Department of Parasitology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
³Laboratory of Immunopharmacology, Department of Biochemistry and Immunology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
⁴Laboratory of Phytochemistry, Department of Pharmaceutical Products, Faculty of Pharmacy, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
⁵Laboratory of Pharmacognosy, Department of Pharmaceutical Products, Faculty of Pharmacy, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Sida pilosa Retz. (Malvaceae) is a medicinal plant used in Africa for the treatment of dysmenorrhea, lower abdominal pains and intestinal helminthiasis. S. pilosa aqueous extract and derived fractions were investigated for their bioactivity against Schistosoma mansoni. The aqueous extract from S. pilosa aerial parts (1.25 - 40 mg/mL) and derived fractions (n-hexane, DCM, EtOAc and n-BuOH: 0.25 - 8 mg/mL) were tested on adult S. mansoni maintained in a GMEN culture medium. Praziquantel was used as the reference drug. After 24 h of incubation, worms were monitored for their viability and egg output. The antioxidant activity of S. pilosa was evaluated by the ability to scavenge the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl free radicals. The chemical composition of the n-BuOH fraction was investigated by HPLC-MS analysis. S. pilosa aqueous extract and fractions significantly increased worm mortality in a concentration-dependent manner. The n-BuOH fraction was the most active with a LC50 of 1.25 mg/mL. Significant reduction of motor activity (25% to 100%) was recorded for surviving worms incubated in different concentrations of the extract and fractions. Incubation of S. mansoni in different concentrations of S. pilosa extract and fractions led to significant reduction of egg laying (52% to 100%). The aqueous extract and derived fractions exhibited antioxidant activity in a concentration-dependent manner. The highest antioxidant activity was found with the EtOAc fraction, followed by the DCM and n-BuOH fractions. HPLC-MS analysis of the n-butanol fraction revealed the presence of two indoloquinoline alkaloids. This study disclosed the schistosomicidal activity of the n-butanol fraction from S. pilosa aqueous extract. This activity is probably related to the indoloquinoline alkaloids identified in the fraction.

Sida pilosa, Schistosomicidal Activity, Antioxidant Activity, Indoloquinoline Alkaloids, Schistosoma mansoni

Boukeng Jatsa, H. , de Jesus Pereira, C. , Dias Pereira, A. , Negrão-Corrêa, D. , Castro Braga, F. , Meireles Maciel, G. , Oliviera Castilho, R. , Kamtchouing, P. and Martins Teixeira, M. (2015) In Vitro Evaluation of Sida pilosa Retz (Malvaceae) Aqueous Extract and Derived Fractions on Schistosoma mansoni. Pharmacology & Pharmacy, 6, 380-390. doi: 10.4236/pp.2015.68039.