The side effects and the emerging resistance to the available drugs against leishmaniasis and trypanosomiasis led to the urgent need for new therapeutic agents against these diseases. Thirty one extracts of thirteen medicinal plants from the Brazilian Cerrado were therefore evaluated in vitro for their antiprotozoal activity against promastigotes of
Leishmania donovani
, and amastigotes of
Trypanosoma cruzi
. Among the selected plants,
Casearia sylvestris
var. lingua was the most active against both
L. donovani and
T. cruzi. Fifteen extracts were active against promastigotes of
L. donovani with concentrations inhibiting 50% of parasite growth (IC
50) between 0.1-10 μg/ml, particularly those of
Annona crassiflora
(Annonaceae),
Himatanthus obovatus
(Apocynaceae),
Guarea kunthiana
(Meliaceae),
Cupania vernalis
(Sapindaceae), and
Serjania lethalis
(Sapindaceae). With regard to amastigotes of
T. cruzi, extracts of
A. crassiflora,
Duguetia furfuracea
(Annonaceae), and
C. sylvestris var. lingua were active with IC
50 values between 0.3-10 μg/ml. Bioassay fractionations of the more active extracts are under progress to identify the active antiparasite compounds.
