Introduction:

Plants used in traditional medicine are studied worldwide as valuable sources of new antiplasmodial agents.

Objective:

To evaluate the in vitro inhibitory activity against Plasmodium berghei of extracts from 27 plant species used in the last century against malaria in Cuba and assess the previous scientific studies on these species.

Methods:

Ethanolic extracts from 27 plant species were prepared and evaluated in vitro by inhibiting the schizogony of P. berghei ANKA. A review of scientific papers was conducted to classify the activity based on IC50.

Results:

Sixteen species showed precedents of inhibitory activity in vitro or of their use in traditional medicine in other countries; seven species did not show coincident activity. Only hydroalcoholic extracts from Euphorbia tithymaloides L. (aerial parts) and Swietenia mahagoni (L.) Jacq. (bark) displayed activity at IC50 ≤ 5 µg/mL, while for Colubrina arborescens (Mill.) Sarg. (bark) IC50 was 14.3 ± 1.9 µg/mL. Extracts from 11 species, with no ethnobotanical and experimental precedents available, were evaluated given the interest of their use in Cuba. Of these species, the aerial parts of Baccharis halimifolia L. var. angustior DC and Oxandra lanceolata (Sw.) Baill. constituted antiplasmodial sources of moderate IC50 values. The rest of the extracts were not active.

Conclusions:

These results support the use of E. tithymaloides, S. mahagoni, C. arborescens, B. halimifolia y O. lanceolata in traditional medicine against malaria in Cuba, which stimulate further studies.

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