Evaluation of Efficacy of Bruceine A, a Natural Quassinoid Compound Extracted from a Medicinal Plant, Bruced javanica, for Canine Babesiosis

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Bruceine A, a natural quassinoid compound extracted from the dried fruits of Brucea javanica (L.) Merr., was evaluated for its antibabesial activity in vitro and in vivo. Bruceine A inhibited the in vitro growth of Babesia gibsoni in canine erythrocytes at lower concentration compared with the standard antibabesial drug diminazene aceturate and killed the parasites within 24 hr at a concentration of 25 nM. Oral administration of bruceine A at a dosage of 6.4 mg/kg/day for 5 days resulted in no clinical findings in a dog with normal ranges of hematological and biochemical values in the blood. Three dogs were infected with B. gibsoni and two of them were treated with bruceine A at a dosage of 6.4 mg/kg/day for 6 days from day 5 post-infection. An untreated dog developed typical acute babesiosis symptoms including severe anemia, high fever, and complete loss of appetite and movement. However, the two bruceine A-treated dogs maintained their healthy conditions throughout the experimental period of 4 weeks although complete elimination of parasites from the peripheral blood was not achieved and decreases in the packed cell volume and the erythrocyte and platelet counts were observed. Since natural quassinoid compounds have been used as traditional medicines for the treatment of various ailments including cancer and malaria, the present results suggest that bruceine A or other related compounds are potential candidates for the treatment of canine babesiosis.

Evaluation of Myanmar Medicinal Plant Extracts for Antitrypanosomal and Cytotoxic Activities

“…is widely distributed throughout Asia, where the fruits have been used for various ailments, including cancer, amoebic dysentery, and malaria. Quassinoids isolated from this plant had inhibitory activity against not only Plasmodium falciparum [12] but also Babesia gibsoni in vitro [16] and in vivo [11] as well as against T. evansi in vitro [2]. In this study, crude extract from the fruits of B. javanica showed the second strongest activity against T. evansi (IC 50 =27.2  7.9 g/ml) and good selectivity (SI=11.4), confirming the previous studies.…”

“…Recently, we reported that quassinoids isolated from the fruits of an Asian medicinal plant, Brucea javanica, showed remarkable antibabesial and antitrypanosomal activities [2,11,16], suggesting a promise use of medicinal plant extracts for protozoan diseases in livestock. In the present study, the in vitro antitrypanosomal and cytotoxic activities of crude extracts of medicinal plants in Myanmar were evaluated.…”

Chemical Composition and Cytotoxic Activities of Petroleum Ether Fruit Extract of Fruits of <i>Brucea javanica</i> (Simarubaceae)

“…Many chemical constituents have been isolated from Brucea genus, including quassinoids, alkaloids, triterpenoids, and flavonoids [2][3][4][5]. Its core components are quassinoids, which possess various biological activities including anti-tumor [4], anti-malarial and anti-babesial [6,7], anti-viral [8], anti-bacterial [9,10] and hyperglycemic [11] activities.…”

Chemical components, pharmacological properties, and nanoparticulate delivery systems of Brucea javanica

“…For instance, bruceoside A has good efficacy in leukemia and brusatol amarissima exert significant anti-inflammatory activity. 12 The quassinoids contain bruceine A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, and I (Figure 2), 13,14 brusatol A, 15 dihydrobrusatol B, 16 bruceoside A, B, C, D, E, F, G, I, J, K, L, P, and S (Figure 3), [17][18][19][20][21][22][23] brusatol amarissima E2-glucosidase, 13 brusatol ketoacid, and bruceen.…”