Antileishmanial Activity of the Essential Oils from Three Trees Obtained in Different Phenological Stages.

Abstract

Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease found in tropical areas, and it affects up to 12 million individuals globally. Chemotherapies now available include drawbacks such as toxicity, high cost, and parasite resistance. This work aimed to evaluate the antileishmanial properties of essential oils (EOs) extracted from aerial parts ofCupressus sempervirens(C. sempervirens),Tetraclinis articulata(T. articulata), andPistacia lentiscus(P. lentiscus) trees. The EOs were obtained by hydro-distillation, and chemical composition was determined by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry at three phenological stages. The EOs were evaluatedin vitrofor antileishmanial activities againstLeishmania major(L. major) and Leishmania infantum (L. infantum). The cytotoxicity effect was also tested against murine macrophagic cells (Raw264.7 lines). Results showed thatP. lentiscus and T. articulataEOs presented low and moderate antileishmanial activity againstL. infantum and L. major.However,C. sempervirensEO from the fructification stage gave an important selectivity index (23.89 and 18.96 againstL. infantumandL. major, respectively). This activity was more interesting than those of amphotericin chemical drugs. Antileishmanial activity for this EO was highly correlated with germacrene D content (r = 1.00). This compound presented a SI equal to 13.34 and 10.38 for the two strains. According to the Principal Component Analysis (PCA), the distribution of the three phenological stages proved that the chemical composition of the EOs affected the antileishmanial activity. PCA revealed that SI was positively correlated with α-pinene, germacrene D and the sesquiterpene hydrocarbon class. Cupressus sempervirensEO can provide a source of germacrene D that can be used as a new alternative to chemical drugs for the treatment of antileishmanial diseases. C. sempervirens EO seemed to be a highly active antileishmanial agent and a natural alternative for chemical drugs to treat several leishmanial strains.