Screening of Mexican medicinal plants for antiprotozoal activity

The MeOH extracts from 19 Mexican medicinal plants belonging to different families have been assessed for anriprotozoal activity against Entamoeba histolytica and Giardia lamblia. Five plant extracts, derived from Acalypha phleoides, Cnidoscolus tehuacanensis, Geranium niveum, Hellianthella quinquenervis and Teloxys graveolens, were found to possess significant activity against both protozoa, bur were less potent than metronidazole. These findings tend to support the ethnomedical use of the species for the treatment of infectious diarrhoea in Mexican traditional medicine.