Antiplasmodial and cytotoxic activity of khellactone derivatives from Angelica purpuraefolia Chung.

The methanolic extract of the rhizomes parts of Agelica purpuraefolia was investigated for its activity against chloroquine-sensitive strains of Plasmodium falciparum using the parasite lactate dehydrogenase assay method. Two natural khellactone, (+)-4'-Decanoyl-cis-khellactone (1) and (+)-3'-Decanoyl-cis-khellactone (2) were isolated from the rhizomes parts of A. purpuraefolia. Two compounds were evaluated for in vitro antiplasmodial activities as well as their cytotoxic potential on SK-OV-3 cancer cell line cells. Compounds 1, 2 showed notable growth inhibitory activity against chloroquine-sensitive strains of Plasmodium falciparum with IC(50) values from 1.5 and 2.4 microM. This compound showed no significant cytotoxicity (IC(50) > 100 microM) evaluated using SK-OV-3 cancer cell line cells. This is the first report on the antiplasmodial activity of the compounds from A. purpuraefolia. (c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.