Bioactivity guided isolation of an ethanol extract of the root of Psoromanthus schottii (Family Fabaceae) afforded a new prenylated isoflavone, named schottiin (5,7,5'-trihydroxy-4'-O-methyl-6'-(3,3-dimethylallyl)-isoflavone) (1), together with four other isoflavones, including fremontone (2), 5,7,4',5'-tetrahydroxy-2'-(3,3-dimethylallyl)-isoflavone (3), glycyrrhisoflavone (4) and fremontin (5), of which 3 and 4 identified as isomeric mixture. Structures of 1-5 were determined by full spectroscopic analyses. A comprehensive 2 D NMR spectral data has allowed revising the structure of fremontone as 2 from previously reported 2 A. Compound 2 showed weak in-vitro antibacterial activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). A combination study using a checkerboard assay between fremontone (2) and methicillin exhibited a synergistic activity with 8-fold decrease in MIC of methicillin, as well as an additive effect with vancomycin against MRSA ATCC 1708. Compounds 1 and 2 also showed moderate antiplasmodial activity against chloroquine-sensitive (D6) and -resistant (W2) strains of Plasmodium falciparum with no cytotoxicity to mammalian Vero cells.
Keywords: Antimicrobial; MRSA; Psorothamnus schottii; antiplasmodial; prenylated isoflavones; schottiin; synergistic activity.