Antimalarial Phenanthroindolizine Alkaloids from Ficus septica

Abstract

During the screening of antimalarial substances, MeOH extract from the twigs of Ficus septica was shown to have potent antimalarial activity. Bioassay-guided fractionation of a methanol extract of the twigs of F. septica led to the isolation of a new seco-phenanthroindolizine alkaloid and three known phenanthroindolizine alkaloids. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of NMR analysis. All isolated compounds were tested against Plasmodium falciparum. Compounds 2–4 displayed antimalarial activity against the 3D7 strain of P. falciparum with IC₅₀ values 0.028–0.42 µM, whereas a new compound 1 exhibited a moderate antimalarial activity.

Graphical Abstract