ACS sub-journal: A compound isolated from the viscous reflow of medicinal plants kills brain-eating amiba in vitro

January 17, 2021 // --- Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) is a deadly disease caused by "brain-eating amoeba" Naegleria Fowleri, which is increasingly common in some parts of the world and has no effective treatment.
Now, in a new study, Spanish researchers have found in a laboratory study that a compound isolated from the leaves of the traditional medicinal plant Inula viscosa could kill the amphetites by allowing them to commit cell suicide, which could lead to new treatments.
the results of the study, published January 6, 2021 in the journal ACS Chemical Neuroscience, were titled "Exploring the Anti-Infective Value of Inuloxin Aed from Inula viscosast The Brain-Eating Amoeba by Activation of Programmed Cell Death."
photo from ACS Chemical Neuroscience, 2021, doi:10.1021/acschemneuro.0c00685.
PAM, which is characterized by headache, fever, vomiting, hallucinations and epilepsy, is almost always fatal within weeks of developing symptoms.
Although the disease is usually caused by swimming in contaminated fresh water to infect the amiba, it is rare and has recently been reported in the United States, the Philippines, southern Brazil and some Asian countries.
B is the most common drug used to treat infected people.
it can kill Fochs Nagriamiba in the lab, but it is not very effective when used in patients, most likely because it does not pass through the blood-brain barrier.
in the new study, Ikrame Zeouk, Jos? Piñero, Jacob Lorenzo-Morales and colleagues wanted to explore whether compounds isolated from viscous reflow, a strong odor plant long used in traditional Mediterranean medicine, could effectively treat PAM.
the researchers first extracted ethanol from the leaves of the herb and found that the extract could kill the Fochs Nagri amoeba worm.
then separated and tested specific compounds from the extract.
's most effective compound, inuloxin A, destroys the membrane in the laboratory and causes mitochondrial changes, chromosomal coagulation and oxidative damage, forcing the amiba to undergo programmed cell death (i.e., apoptosis) and eventually killing the amiba worm.
although inuloxin A is much less potency in the laboratory than b on both sexes, the structure of this plant-derived compound suggests that it may be more likely to pass through the blood-brain barrier.
say more research is needed to support this.
the researchers disclosed that the study was funded by the European Regional Development Fund, the Spanish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, the University of La Laguna and the Augustine de Bettenc?o Foundation.
(Bioon.com) Reference: 1.Ikrame Zeouk et al. Exploring the Anti-Infective Value of Inuloxin A Isolated from Inula viscosa against the Brain-Eating Amoeba (Naegleria fowleri) by Activation of Programmed Cell Death. ACS Chemical Neuroscience, 2021, doi:10.1021/acschemneuro.0c00685.2.Compound from medicinal herb kills brain-eating amoebae in lab studies