Lignans isolated from Piper truncatum act as new potent antitrypanosomal compounds

The hexane extract from twigs of Piper truncatum Vell (Piperaceae) displayed activity against Trypanosoma cruzi and was subjected to chromatographic steps to afford six dibenzylbutyrolactolic lignans, being four knowns: cubebin (1), (‐)‐9α‐O‐methylcubebin (2), (+)‐9β‐O‐methylcubebinin (3) and 3,4‐dimethoxy‐3,4‐demethylenedioxycubebin (4) as well as two new, named truncatin A (5) and B (6). Initially, in vitro activity against trypomastigotes was evaluated and compounds 1, 4 and 6 exhibited EC50 values of 41.6, 21.0 and 39.6 μM, respectively. However, when tested against amastigotes, the relevant clinical form in the chronic phase of Chagas disease, compounds 1 – 6 displayed activities with EC50 values ranging from 1.6 to 13.7 μM. In addition, the mammalian cytotoxicity of compounds 1 – 6 was evaluated against murine fibroblasts (NCTC). Compounds 2, 3 and 4 exhibited reduced toxicity against NCTC cells (CC50 > 200 μM), resulting in SI values of > 21.9, > 14.5 and > 121.9, respectively. Compound 4 showed the highest potency with an SI value twice superior to that determined by the standard drug benznidazole (SI > 54.6) against the intracellular amastigotes. These data suggest that lignan 4 can be considered a possible scaffold for designing a new drug candidate for Chagas disease.