Activity of compounds from temperate propolis against Trypanosoma brucei and Leishmania mexicana

Ethanolic extracts of samples of temperate zone propolis, four from the UK and one from Poland, were tested against three strains and displayed EC values < 20 µg/mL. The extracts were fractionated, from which 12 compounds and one two-component mixture were isolated, and characterized by NMR and high-resolution mass spectrometry, as 3-acetoxypinobanksin, tectochrysin, kaempferol, pinocembrin, 4'-methoxykaempferol, galangin, chrysin, apigenin, pinostrobin, cinnamic acid, coumaric acid, cinnamyl ester/coumaric acid benzyl ester (mixture), 4',7-dimethoxykaempferol, and naringenin 4',7-dimethyl ether. The isolated compounds were tested against drug-sensitive and drug-resistant strains of and , with the highest activities ≤ 15 µM. The most active compounds against were naringenin 4',7 dimethyl ether and 4'methoxy kaempferol with activity of 15-20 µM against the three strains. The most active compounds against were 4',7-dimethoxykaempferol and the coumaric acid ester mixture, with EC values of 12.9 ± 3.7 µM and 13.1 ± 1.0 µM. No loss of activity was found with the diamidine- and arsenical-resistant or phenanthridine-resistant strains, or the miltefosine-resistant strain; no clear structure activity relationship was observed for the isolated compounds. Temperate propolis yields multiple compounds with anti-kinetoplastid activity.