In vitro SUSCEPTIBILITY OF COLOMBIAN Plasmodium falciparum ISOLATES TO THREE Solanum nudum DUNAL (SOLANACEAE) STEROIDS

Solanum nudum is used by Tumaco (Narino, Colombia) inhabitants to treat fevers. Compounds isolated from the plant showed antimalarial activity in different models and low toxic potential. Our aim was to measure the in vitro susceptibility of Plasmodium falciparum isolates, from different Colombian municipalities, to the steroids SN-1, SN-2 and SN-4 of S. nudum. The isolates were obtained from patients with single P.falciparum infection and were adapted to in vitro culture. Seven two-fold doses were evaluated using HRP2 method. Controls included FCB2 (Chloroquine-resistant) and NF54 (Chloroquine-sensitive) strains. A total of 21 clinical isolates were evaluated. The mean IC50 for steroids SN-1, SN-2 and SN-4 were 28.3; 175.1; 41.8 mu M, respectively. Both laboratory strains displayed similar sensitivity to SN-1; the most of isolates showed IC50 for SN-1 and SN-2 significantly lower than the chloroquine-resistant strain; and the IC50, for SN-2 and SN-4 were not different between the isolates sensitive to all antimalarial and those resistant to one, two or more antimalarial drugs. These data suggest that these steroids are active against sensitive and resistant parasites to different antimalarial drugs.