Aimi, Norio , Franzblau, Scott G, Nonato, Maribel G, Takayama, Hiromitsu , Tan, Mario A
PUBLISHER
University of Santo Tomas
PAGINATION/COLLATION
13
ANNOTATION
One of the Philippines' most pressing health problems is the continuous spread of tuberculosis (TB). About 22 million of the country's population is infected with TB and about 270 thousand per year develops TB infection (WHO, 2002). A plant worth exploring as potential source of antituberculars is the Pandanus tectorius var. laevis, a species which belongs to the Genus Pandanus.
Preliminary investigation of the P. laevis crude methanolic extract, hexane, chloroform, and n-butanol extracts exhibited a 100%, 100%, 95%, and 57% inhibition, respectively, against the virulent strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv using the Microplate Alamar Blue Assay (MABA) method. As of this writing, no literature is available on the anti-TB studies in P. laevis.
Bioassay-guided fractionation and isolation of the chloroform extract afforded 2 NMR and TLC-pure isolates, labeled PI-C-A11 and PI-C-A13a1. PI-C-A11, with an MIC of 64 ug/ml, is an amorphous solid with a melting point of 123-124 C. Spectral analysis gave a molecular formula of C32H62O, a triterpene of the tirucallane group. PI-C-A13a1, with an MIC of 8 ug/ml is a colorless oil, and spectral analysis gave a molecular formula of C30H50. Another isolate PI-C-A13b with an MIC of 128 ug/ml was found to be a mixture of triterpenoids. Spectral analysis of these antituberculars will be presented.