A new hybrid: Artesunate-Tumacona B

Abstract

In recent years, the emergence of Plasmodium strains resistant to artemisinin derivatives, such as the commercial antimalarial Artesunate, has been detected. For this reason, in the search for new strategies to malaria control, we used the antiplasmodial activity of natural products from plant Solanum nudum, such as Tumacona B (SN2), to synthesize a new hybrid Artesunate-Tumacona B. The antiplasmodial activity and cytotoxicity of this hybrid was evaluated in vitro. We found a potent activity with IC50 = 0.0044μM in the strain 3D7 (chloroquine sensitive) and IC50= 0.0059 μM for the strain FCR3 (chloroquine resistant) and low cytotoxicity in HepG2 human liver cells with a CC50 = 12.6 μM. This makes the hybrid a new and promising compound.