From the alkaloidal fractions of the West African plant Cryptolepis sanguinolenta (Asclepiadaceae), two alkaloids were purified: one was identified as the known indoloquinoline alkaloid cryptolepine [1], A second, novel alkaloid was shown to have an empirical formula of C34H24N4O based on exact mass measurement. Through the concerted application of a series of homonuclear and inverse-detected 2D nmr experiments, the structure of the second alkaloid was established as a spiro-nonacyclic alkaloid, cryptospirolepine. One portion of the structure of cryptospirolepine [2] may be biogenetically derived from cryptolepine [1],Cryptolepis sanguinolenta (Lindl.) Schlechter (Asclepiadaceae), a shrub indigenous to West Africa, has long been employed by Ghanaian traditional healers in the treatment of various fevers, including malaria (1). A root decoction has been used in the clinical therapy both of malaria and of urinary and upper respiratory tract infections by Oku Ampofo at the Centre for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine in Ghana since 1974 (1). The indoloquinoline alkaloid cryptolepine (5-methyl-5H-indolo-[3,2-¿}quinoline) [1] was first isolated from extracts of the roots of Cryptolepis triangularis N. E.Br., a species native to the Belgian Congo, by Clinquart in 1929 (2). Shortly thereafter, the alkaloid was again isolated from the same species by Delvaux (3). Quite paradoxically, cryptolepine had been synthesized some 20 years prior by Fichter and coworkers (4-6). Cryptolepine was isolated from a Nigerian sample of Cr. sanguinolenta in 1951 by Gellert et al. (7). Almost 30 years later, the alkaloid was isolated from a

SUMMARYObjective: To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of a tea bag formulation of the root of C. sanguinolenta Design: This is a prospective descriptive open trial. Setting: Patients were recruited from Korle-Bu, Mamprobi and Dansoman Polyclinics. Subjects: Forty-four subjects with uncomplicated malaria were recruited for the study. Method: Patients presented with clinical symptoms of malaria. Laboratory investigations conducted included malaria parasite counts, haematological indices and biochemical tests which were obtained before, during and after a 5-day treatment period, up to Day 28 posttreatment. All patients in the study were symptomatic with significant parasitaemia. Patients were given one teabag three times a day, that is, morning, noon and night, for five days of treatment. Results: Fifty percent of the patients were cleared of their P. falciparum parasitaemia by 72 hours, and all by Day 7. Presenting symptoms of fever, chills, nausea and vomiting cleared rapidly, all by Day 3, but resolution of haematological and biochemical abnormalities associated with malaria was generally slow, a feature seen in malaria post-treatment. The overall cure rate was 93.5% due to two cases of recrudescence on Days 21 and 28. The laboratory findings did not suggest any toxicity. Conclusion: On the basis of fever clearance and disappearance of parasitaemia by Day 7, the formulation has been shown to be non-toxic and highly effective in the treatment of acute uncomplicated malaria.

The relatively rare alkaloid cryptolepine, 5‐methyl‐5H‐indolo[3,2‐b]quinoline, was isolated from Cryptolepis sanguinolenta (Lindl.) Schlecter (Asclepiadaceae). Unequivocal proton and carbon nmr assignments in dimethyl sulfoxide are reported based on two‐dimensional nmr methods, including COSY, inverse‐detected direct (HMQC), and long‐range (HMBC) correlations. Several of the assignments were confirmed using one‐dimensional SIMBA spectra ‐ a new, selective, one‐dimensional analogue of the proton‐detected long‐range heteronuclear shift correlation experiment (HMBC). The SIMBA experiment was also used in an attempt to observe a two‐bond coupling from the H11 proton to C10a at several optimizations.

A known triterpene glycoside, 3-O-[beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1"-6')-2'-acetamido-2'-deoxy-beta-D-gluco pyranosyl]olean-12-en-28-oic acid [3], and new sulfated triterpene, echinocystic acid-3-O-sodium sulfate [4], have been isolated from the stem bark of Tetrapleura tetraptera. Compound 3 was 100% lethal to Biomphalaria glabrata at 20 ppm, while 4 was not molluscicidal at the same concentration. In a forward mutation assay utilizing Salmonella typhimurium strain TM677, T. tetraptera stem bark extracts were found to be mutagenic in the absence of a metabolic activating system (S-9). An MeOH extract of the fruit exhibited weak mutagenic activity only in the presence of S-9. The stem bark isolates, which included aridanin [1], 3-O-(2'-acetamido-2'-deoxy-beta-D-glucopyranosyl)echinocystic acid [2], and compounds 3 and 4, were not mutagenic either with or without metabolic activation.

The reisolation of the indoloquinoline alkaloid quindoline (also known as norcryptolepine) from Cryptolepis sanguinolenta is reported. The structure was unequivocally confirmed by two‐dimensional nmr methods; the proton and carbon spectra were assigned for the first time. Because of congestion in the proton spectrum HMQC‐TOCSY was used as an alternative to the more familiar COSY experiment. In addition to establishing proton‐proton connectivities, HMQC‐TOCSY affords the added benefit of providing, in an indirect sense, connectivity information between protonated carbons.