Busseihydroquinones A-D From The Roots Of Pentas Bussei

Abstract

Four new naphthohydroquinones, named busseihydroquinones A−D (1−4), along with a known homoprenylated dihydronaphthoquinone (5), were isolated from the CH2Cl2/MeOH (1:1) extract of the roots of Pentas bussei. Although the genus Pentas is frequently used by traditional healers for the treatment of malaria, only marginal activities against the chloroquine-sensitive (D6) and the chloroquineresistant (W2) strains of Plasmodium falciparum were observed for the crude root extract and the isolated constituents of this plant.