Antileishmanial activity and immunomodulatory effect of secosubamolide, a butanolide isolated from Nectandra oppositifolia (Lauraceae)

 

Thais A. da Costa-Silva¹, Geanne A. Alves Conserva¹, Andrés J. Galisteo Jr², Andre G. Tempone³, João Henrique G. Lago¹

 

1 Center of Natural Sciences and Humanities, Federal University of ABC (UFBAC), São Paulo, SP, Brazil.

2 Institute of Tropical Medicine, University of São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, SP, Brazil.

3 Centre for Parasitology and Mycology, Adolfo Lutz Institute (IAL), São Paulo, SP, Brazil.

 

ABSTRACT

Background:

Visceral leishmaniasis is a complex neglected tropical disease caused by Leishmania donovani complex. Its current treatment reveals strong limitations, especially high toxicity. In this context, natural products are important sources of new drug alternatives for VL therapy. Therefore, the antileishmanial and immunomodulatory activity of compounds isolated from Nectandra oppositifolia (Lauraceae) was investigated herein.

 

Methods:

The n-hexane extract from twigs of N. oppositifolia were subjected to HPLC/HRESIMS and bioactivity-guided fractionation to afford compounds 1 and 2 which were evaluated in vitro against Leishmania (L.) infantum chagasi and NCTC cells.

 

Results:

The n-hexane extract displayed activity against L. (L.) infantum chagasi and afforded isolinderanolide E (1) and secosubamolide A (2), which were effective against L. (L.) infantum chagasi promastigotes, with IC₅₀ values of 57.9 and 24.9 µM, respectively. Compound 2 was effective against amastigotes (IC₅₀ = 10.5 µM) and displayed moderate mammalian cytotoxicity (CC₅₀ = 42 µM). The immunomodulatory studies of compound 2 suggested an anti-inflammatory activity, with suppression of IL-6, IL-10, TNF with lack of nitric oxide.

 

Conclusion:

This study showed the antileishmanial activity of compounds 1 and 2 isolated from N. oppositifolia. Furthermore, compound 2 demonstrated an antileishmanial activity towards amastigotes associated to an immunomodulatory effect.

 

Keywords Leishmania (L.) infantum chagasi; Antileishmanial; Nectandra oppositifolia; Secosubamolide; Immunomodulatory

 

Received: February 07, 2019.

Accepted: June 27, 2019.

 

Correspondence: joao.lago@ufabc.edu.br

 

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests

 

Authors' contributions

TACS, GAAC and AJG performed the research and analyzed data. AGT, TACS and JHGL wrote the manuscript. AGT and JHGL designed the study. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.