Antileishmanial Activity of the Essential Oil fromBixa orellana

Abstract

Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by Leishmania protozoa. There is currently no vaccine against leishmaniasis, and chemotherapy remains the only effective control. However, conventional drugs are toxic, expensive, and require long periods of treatment, and resistance to clinical chemotherapeutic agents is emerging. Recent research on plants has shown a successful approach to obtain new antileishmanial alternatives. Herein, the in vitro and in vivo effects of the essential oil from Bixa orellana seeds against Leishmania amazonensis were evaluated. A total of 73 compounds were detected by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis, of which ishwarane (18.6%) and geranylgeraniol (9.1%) were the major components. The oil showed activity against intracellular amastigote form (IC50 = 8.5 µg/mL), while the cytotoxic concentration was sevenfold higher for the host cells. The ability of Bixa oil to control disease progression of established cutaneous leishmaniasis in BALB/c mice was demonstrated, after a treatment with 30 mg/kg by intraperitoneal administration over 14 days. The present study reports for the first time the antileishmanial potentialities of the essential oil from B. orellana.

Antileishmanial and cytotoxic potential of essential oils from medicinal plants in Northern Tunisia

“…Inhibition percentage (I) was calculated using the following formula: I (%) = 100 × (absorbance untreated cells − absorbance treated cells)/absorbance untreated cells. According to their IC50, compounds were classified as highly active (IC50 < 1 g/mL), active (1 g/mL < IC50 < 10 g/mL), moderately active (10 g/mL < IC50 < 50 g/mL), slightly active (50 g/mL < IC50 < 100 g/mL) or inactive (IC50 > 100 g/mL) (Osório et al, 2007;Monzote et al, 2013).…”

“…The characterization of bioactive molecules from plants is an intense research area for many scientists to fight against the deleterious effects of protozoal infections (Anthony et al, 2005), and a new alternative to the classical chemotherapeutic option (Monzote et al, 2013).…”

Activity of synthetic chalcones in hamsters experimentally infected with Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis

“…These results suggest that intraperitoneal chalcone 2 has in vivo activity against L. (V.) braziliensis. Other studies have described the activity of chalcones in vivo, but they investigated Leishmania amazonensis, Leishmania donovani, and Leishmania major using other treatment schedules (Aponte et al 2010;Boeck et al 2006;Chen et al 1994;Monzote et al 2013;Piñero et al 2006;Suryawanshi et al 2013;Torres-Santos et al 1999;Zhai et al 1999). Studies that evaluated in vivo activity against L. (V.) braziliensis are rare despite the importance of this species because of possible mucosal involvement and its wide distribution in the Americas (Almeida and Santos 2011;WHO 2010).…”

“…In particular, studies of the species L. (V.) braziliensis are rare despite its importance. Chalcones have been tested in vivo but with other species of Leishmania (Chen et al 1994;Monzote et al 2013;Suryawanshi et al 2013;Zhai et al 1999). Chalcones 1 and 2 were tested in vivo because excellent in vitro results were found in a previous study (de Mello et al 2014).…”

Chemical Characterization, Antileishmanial Activity, and Cytotoxicity Effects of the Essential Oil from Leaves of Pluchea carolinensis (Jacq.) G. Don. (Asteraceae)

“…It is estimated that about 25% of medicines are derived directly or indirectly from herbal products (Kunle et al ., ). Within the group of natural products, essential oils (EOs) have been of interest because of their broad spectrum of reported biological properties (Kulevanova et al ., ; Rhayour et al ., ), including leishmanicidal activity (de Medeiros et al ., ; Rodrigues et al ., ; Colares et al ., ; Monzote et al ., ,b). In addition, their hydrophobic nature makes these oils more permeable to cells (Burt, ), which is a very important feature for developing agents against intracellular pathogens.…”