In vitro activity of green tea extract against Leishmania major promastigotes

Abstract

Systemic and topical treatment options against Leishmaniasis are limited to a few drugs with inconsistent efficacy and unacceptable side effects and none of them is suitable for all forms of the disease. The aim of this study was to search the in vitro activity of green tea extract against L. major promastigotes and compare it with glucantime. Extract was prepared by percolation method. The extract was dried and dissolved in DMSO 1% solvent. Leishmania major promastigotes treated with 6 concentrations (3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 96 mg/ml) of the extract. As control positive group glucantime 85 mg/ml and additional untreated control group were included in this study. All cultures were performed in triplicate. The promastigotes were also counted and their flagellate's motilities were assessed microscopically. Ethanolic extract of green tea showed significant leishmanicidal activity against L. major promastigotes in different concentrations. Notably there was a concordance in anti-leishmanial effect of the ethanol extract with the increasing of the dosage (3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 96 mg/ml). In comparison with glucantime the mean alive promastigotes in 12 mg/ml concentration of green tea was almost as same as 85 mg/ml glucantime and higher green tea extract concentrations were higher effective than glucantime. Our study revealed a novel pharmacological activity against promastigotes of L. major and suggests that green tea extract has the potential of being used in leishmaniasis but more studies are needed to find out its activity against amastigote and appropriate route of application.