Natural Products and Neglected Diseases: The investigation of crude extracts obtained from plant species of "Cerrado" regions

• Grant number: 11/14199-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: July 01, 2012
• End date: June 30, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Wilson Roberto Cunha
• Grantee: Lúzio Gabriel Bocalon Flauzino
• Host Institution: Reitoria. Universidade de Franca (UNIFRAN). Franca , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Natural products are used by man since ancient times. The search for relief and cure of diseases by eating leaves and herbs may have been one of the earliest forms of using natural products. Chemistry of Natural Products represents, within the search area with plant species, a point of great importance and value, in that only through the use of phytochemicals methods can isolate new substances and obtain the correct determination of their chemical structures and subsequently obtainment of derivatives by partial or total synthesis. The introduction of new technologies became the medicinal chemistry in its broadest conception, expanding its interdisciplinary character. The new molecular biology and genetic techniques allowed the isolation and purification of many enzymes and receptors directly associated with the diseases, representing authentic molecular targets for new drugs. Most drugs available in modern therapy are obtained by synthesis, but many of them were originally extracted from plants or used a prototype that, in turn, was also extracted from plants. This project focuses on the preparation of crude extracts of three plant species (Tillandsia recurvata, Davilla elliptica and Vellozia variabilis) that will be collected in "Cerrado" areas. These extracts will be evaluated in vitro against the parasites that cause leishmaniosis, schistosomiosis and Chagas disease, thus aiming the obtainment of the most promising extracts for further fractionation and isolation of the major constituents in order to obtain the active compounds.