Antiplasmodial activity of the alkaloids of Peschiera fuchsiaefolia.

The tertiary and quaternary alkaloids isolated from the stem bark, root bark and seeds of Peschiera fuchsiaefolia are reported. The tertiary alkaloid crude extract from the stem bark was tested in vitro against Plasmodium falciparum on the basis of the antimalarial use of the plant. It showed good activity against both the D6 strain (IC50 = 495 ng/ml) and chloroquine-resistant W2 strain (IC50 = 817 ng/ml) and voacamine was the most active of the tested alkaloids (IC50 = 238 ng/ml for D6 and 290 ng/ml for W2). The tertiary alkaloid crude extract from the root bark of the same plant is more active than voacamine (IC50 = 179 ng/ml for D6 and 282 ng/ml for W2 strain), and is particularly rich in dimeric alkaloids (0.22% of the vegetable material).