In continuation of our study on medicinal plants of Cameroon, stem barks of Polyalthia suaveolens were phytochemically studied. This investigation yielded a new indolosesquiterpene alkaloid, named polysin (1) and four hitherto known alkaloids (2-5). Polysin (1) appeared as a competitive reversible inhibitor (K(i)=10 microM) of phosphofructo kinase (PFK) of Trypanosoma brucei with respect to fructose-6-phosphate (K(i)/K(M)=0.05) and could be used in the design of new trypanocidal drugs. The other isolated compounds (2-5) also exhibited interesting inhibitory effects on selected glycolytic enzymes (PFK, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and aldolase). CI - Crown Copyright 2010. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.