Abstract
The increased incidence of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in Brazil is due to a lack of effective disease control measures. In addition to that, no effective treatment exists for canine VL in response to synthetic drugs. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the essential oils of Coriandrum sativum and Lippia sidoides, and oleoresin from Copaifera reticulata, on Leishmania chagasi promastigotes and amastigotes. We also examined the toxicity of these treatments on the murine monocyte cell line RAW 264.7. To determine the IC50 a MTT test (3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) was performed on promastigotes, and an in situ ELISA assay was conducted on amastigotes. Here, we demonstrate that oleoresin from C. reticulata was effective against both promastigotes (IC50 of 7.88 µg.mL-1) and amastigotes (IC50 of 0.52 µg.mL-1), and neither of the two treatments differed significantly (p > 0.05) from pentamidine (IC50 of 2.149 µg.mL-1) and amphotericin B (IC50 of 9.754 µg.mL-1). Of the three plant oils tested, only oleoresin showed no toxicity toward monocyte, with 78.45% viability after treatment. Inhibition of promastigote and amastigote growth and the lack of cytotoxicity by C. reticulata demonstrate that oleoresin may be a viable option for analyzing the in vivo therapeutic effects of leishmanicidal plants.
Highlights
The World Health Organization (WHO) considers visceral leishmaniasis (VL) to be a major tropical zoonotic disease (MISHRA et al, 2009)
The results of oil activity on promastigotes showed that C. reticulata oleoresin and L. sidoides essential oil were effective compared with positive control pentamidine (p > 0.05)
The other oils demonstrated some toxicity; 49.9% viability was observed in cells treated with C. sativum, and 57.8% viability was observed in cells treated with L. sidoides
Summary
The World Health Organization (WHO) considers visceral leishmaniasis (VL) to be a major tropical zoonotic disease (MISHRA et al, 2009). VL, which continues to resist modern control efforts, is most common in northeastern Asia, eastern Africa and northeastern Brazil, but cases occur in southern Europe and elsewhere. There are approximately 500,000 new cases and more than 50,000 deaths worldwide; because leishmaniasis is not a commonly reported disease in many countries, these values are probably underestimated (WHO, 2010). In Brazil, this disease has expanded throughout the canine and human populations in various regions (RONDON et al, 2008; BRASIL, 2009). Canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) has proven to be resistant to available synthetic antiparasitic drugs, reinforcing the need for alternatives in disease control. CVL therapies aim to reduce the parasite load, minimize organ damage by the parasites, and redirect the immune response to improve animal health and prevent relapse (OLIVA et al, 2010)
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