Maesabalide III (MB-III), an oleane triterpene saponin isolated from the Vietnamese plant Maesa balansae, is a new antileishmanial lead compound whose activity against Leishmania donovani (MHOM/ET/67/L82) in groups of five golden hamsters was evaluated after administration of a single subcutaneous dose on either day 1 (prophylactic treatment) or day 28 (curative treatment) after infection. Lipo...

The in vitro and in vivo activities of a mixture of six oleane triterpene saponins, recovered from the methanolic extract of the leaves of the Vietnamese plant Maesa balansae (PX-6518), were evaluated against drug-sensitive visceral Leishmania strains. The in vitro 50% inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) against intracellular Leishmania infantum amastigotes was 0.04 micro g/ml. The cytotoxic conc...

Diabetes-associated chronic kidney disease (CKD) continues to be a major contributor to morbidity and mortality in the U.S. and the world. Diabetic kidney disease is the most common reason that Americans are started on renal replacement therapy (1), and as the incidence of diabetes continues to increase, the health and economic consequences of nephropathy and other complications will rise in pa...

The bark of the tree of Terminalia arjuna has been used in cardiac disorders in Ayurveda. In the Rigveda, the word Arjuna is used for the first time. The preclinical studies in modern medicine suggest that there are strong antioxidant properties of Terminalia arjuna and reduction of ischemic perfusion injury. It also causes attenuation of oxidative stress and antifibrotic activity has been show...

Triterpenoids represent a promising and expanding platform for biologically active natural compounds whose capability to unique and potentially usable biological effects is currently only partly utilized. They are present in a variety of common plants and fruits and the triterpenoid isolation and identification from such natural sources is of special interest. From the biological standpoint, ol...