AMEBICIDAL ACTIVITY OF PLANT-EXTRACTS FROM SOUTHEAST-ASIA ON ACANTHAMOEBA SPP

The effect of 100 polar and 100 nonpolar plant extract materials obtai ned from Southeast Asia were evaluated for amebicidal activity in vitr o against three species of Acanthamoeba. A. culbertsoni, A. castellani i, and A. polyphaga, the causative agents of granulomatous amebic ence phalitis and amebic keratitis, were studied in vitro to determine whet her the plant extracts exhibited amebicidal activity or induced encyst ment of the amebae. Of the 200 plant extracts tested, extracts obtaine d from three plants (Ipomoea sp., Kaempferia galanga, and Cananga odor ata) were amebicidal for all three species of Acanthamoeba and a fourt h extract prepared from Gastrochilus panduratum was lytic for A. polyp haga and growth-inhibitory for A. castellanii and A. culbertsoni. Thre e plant extracts induced encystment of all three species of Acanthamoe ba. Select plant extracts were tested as well for tumoricidal activity against B103 neuroblastoma cells. Some plant extracts that exhibited tumoricidal activity for B103 cells were not amebicidal for Acanthamoe ba spp. Additionally, the polar and nonpolar extracts that exhibited a mebicidal activity were also tested for activity against primary murin e peritoneal macrophage cultures. Plant extracts that demonstrated tum oricidal or amebicidal activity were not lytic for normal macrophage c ultures.