Antimalarial activity of lactucin and lactucopicrin: sesquiterpene lactones isolated from Cichorium intybus L

  • J Ethnopharmacol. 2004 Dec;95(2-3):455-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2004.06.031.
Theodore A Bischoff  1 ,  Charles J Kelley ,  Yvette Karchesy ,  Maria Laurantos ,  Phuc Nguyen-Dinh ,  Abdul Ghafoor Arefi
Affiliations
  • 1. Department of Pharmacy, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA. [email protected]
PMID: 15507374 DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2004.06.031
Abstract

Folklore reports from Afghanistan prior to the wars described the use of aqueous root extracts of Cichorium intybus (L.) as a light-sensitive plant remedy for malaria. Preparative isolation and bioassay against HB3 clone of strain Honduras-1 of Plasmodium falciparum identified the previously known light-sensitive sesquiterpene lactones Lactucin and Lactucopicrin to be antimalarial compounds.

Products