In vitro potentiation of antimalarial activities by daphnetin derivatives against Plasmodium falciparum.

OBJECTIVE To screen the antimalarial compounds of daphnetin derivatives against Plasmodium falciparum in vitro. METHOD Plasmodium faciparum (FCC1) was cultured in vitro by a modified method of Trager and Jensen. Antimalarial compounds were screened by microscopy-based assay and microfluorimetric method. RESULTS DA79 and DA78 showed potent antimalarial activity against Plasmodium falciparum cultured in vitro. CONCLUSION Though the relationship between the structures of daphnetin derivatives and their antimalarial activities has not been clarified yet, this study may provide a new direction for discovery of more potential antimalarial compounds.