BACKGROUND
Salacia impressifolia (Miers) A. C. Smith (family Celastraceae) is a traditional medicinal plant found in the Amazon Rainforest known as "miraruíra", "cipó-miraruíra" or "panu" and is traditionally used to treat dengue, flu, inflammation, pain, diabetes, male impotency, renal affections,
Tingenone[1],20-hydroxy-20-epi-tingenone[2],celastrol[ 3], and salaspermic acid [4] have been isolated from Kokoona ochracea stem bark. The quinone-methide triterpenes 1-3 exhibited strong but non-specific in vitro cytotoxicity against P-388 murine lymphocytic leukemia cells and a panel of human