Phytochemical constituents from Xanthium strumarium L. and evaluation of their in vitro antimalarial activities

Abstract Malaria is a major threat to global health and continues to claim lives of many people each year, especially in developing countries. Xanthium strumarium L., is used by traditional health practitioners in the management of malaria fever in North East India. Bioassay guided fractionation of X. strumarium L. extracts, led to the isolation of five compounds from the aerial part and fruit of Xanthium strumarium, namely, stigmasta-5,22-dien-3β-ol (1), xanthinosin (2), stigmasterol-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (3), oleic acid (4) and (E)-2, 3-dihydroxypropyl-octadec-9-enoate (5). Antimalarial potential of isolated compounds were evaluated against 3D7 strain of Plasmodium falciparum by schizont maturation inhibition assay method. The structures of isolated compounds were established by HR-MS, NMR experiments and comparison from literature data. Compounds 2 and 3 showed significant antimalarial properties against 3D7 strain of P.falciparum with IC50 value 27.25 and 7.14μM respectively. The antimalarial activities of xanthinosin (2) and stigmasterol-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (3) lend credence to the application of X. strumarium against malaria and thus provides new template for development of antimalarial molecules. X. strumarium has also scope for the development of antimalarial phyto-pharmaceutical with five identified compounds with P.falciparum inhibitory activity as per the drugs and cosmetics act of India (1940, amended 31st December 2016).