In vitro Anti-epimastigote Activity of some Iranian Medicinal Plants

Some medi cinal plants are a potent ial source of new dru gs, in orde r to impro ve thetreatment of cha gas di sease whose treatment is still a challenge. in th is study, the in vitroanti -epimastigote acti vity of ce rta in fractions of achillea biebersteinii, a. millefol ium, saturej amutica and s. macrantha was evalu ated . diethyl ether fraction s of achillea species and acetonefractions of satureja species wer e the most active fraction s (mlc= 12.5 ug/ml) against theepimastigotes of trypanosoma cruzi, the ethiological agent causing chagas disease. thetrypanocidal activity seems to be decreased by fractionation, using meoh and water as thesolvents. the result s obt ained from biological assay revealed that achi llea and satureja speciescould be a source of ac tive trypanocid al compounds .