Antiplasmodial and antifungal activities of iridal, a plant triterpenoid

Iridal, a triterpenoidic compound extracted from Iris germanica L., was previously shown to have an interesting activity on two cultured human tumor cell lines (A2780 and K562). In the present work, this same product was tested in vitro on Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine-resistant and -sensitive strains, in vivo on P. vinckei, and on some Candida albicans and C. parapsilosis strains too. The IC50 obtained in vitro on human malaria strain ranged from 1.8 to 26.0 mug/ml and the ED50 in vivo is about 85 mg/ kg/day by intraperitoneal route. The minimal inhibitory concentrations were higher than to 50 mug/ml, whatever the strain of yeast tested. This product presents an antiplasmodial activity similar to that obtained with extracts from the plant Azadirachta indica classically taken as reference in malaria phytomedicine. Conversely iridal shows no important antifungal activity. The specific activity of iridal on human malaria parasite and on tumor cell lines is discussed. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.