Cytotoxic Effects of Artemisia Dracunculus L. and Heracleum Persicum Desf. Extracts on Leishmania major and Leishmania infantum Promastigotes Using MTT Assay

Abstract

Background: Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease that occurs in subtropical and tropical regions with approximately 350 million people worldwide and 2 million new cases annually. The annual increase in cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is observed, especially in endemic areas such as Iran. Since there is no effective vaccine, the detection of natural anti-leishmanial products is essential. Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the in vitro anti-leishmanial activity of two herbal medicine including Artemisia dracunculus L. and Heracleum persicum Desf. (Golpar). Materials and Methods: The extracts of selected plants were obtained by maceration, and in vitro anti-leishmanial activity was assayed on Leishmania major and Leishmania infantum promastigotes using colorimetric MTT [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5- diphenyltetrazolium bromide] assay in comparison with glucantime as a reference. Results: Based on the results, 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of selected plants and glucantime solutions were determined at 24, 48, and 72 hours incubation. Further, the anti-leishmanial activity of the leaf extract of A. dracunculus with IC50 values of 1.85 and 3.5 µg/mL and the fruit extract of H. persicum with values of 31.32 and 11.7 µg/mL were evaluated against L. major and L. infantum promastigotes, respectively. Conclusion: These results revealed anti-leishmania properties of the above-mentioned plants and the need to study the effects of these extracts on the Leishmania genus in animal models and in vivo assay in the future.

Anticancer potential of furanocoumarins and flavonoids of Heracleum persicum fruit

“…Phytochemical investigation of hydroalcoholic extract obtained from the fruits of H. persicum using chromatography on normal and sephadex LH-20 columns resulted in the isolation of six compounds (1-6) from dichloromethane fraction and four compounds (7-10) from n-butanol fraction. The structures of the isolated compounds were characterized as four linear furanocoumarin derivatives; phellopterin (1), bergapten (4), isopimpinellin (5) and xanthotoxin (6), three angular furanocoumarin derivatives; angelicin (2), pimpinellin (3), and apterin (7), along with three avonol glycosides; isorhamnetin 3-O-glucoside (8), isorhamnetin 3-O-rutinoside (narcissin) (9), and quercetin 3-O-rutinoside (rutin) (10) (Fig. 1) on the basis of 1 H-NMR and 13 C-NMR spectral analyses comparing with those published in the literature [22][23][24][25].…”

“…The present study, we report the isolation of phellopterin ( 1) angelicin (2), apterin (7), isorhamnetin 3-Oglucoside (8), isorhamnetin 3-O-rutinoside (10) and quercetin 3-O-rutinoside (9) from the fruits of H. persicum for the rst time. Moreover, this is the rst report on isolation of isorhamnetin 3-O-glucoside (8), isorhamnetin 3-O-rutinoside (10) and quercetin 3-O-rutinoside (9) from the genus Heracleum L..…”

“…In Iranian traditional medicine the fruits H. persicum have been mentioned useful as carminative, digestive, tonic, aphrodisiac, anthelmintic, analgesic, emmenagogue and for the treatment of memory impairment [2,3]. Previous studies have shown antioxidant [4], antimicrobial [5,6], antileishmanial [7], insecticidal [8], anti-in ammatory [9], analgesic [9], antidiabetic [10], antihyperlipidemic [11], hepatoprotective [12], anticonvulsant [13] and immunomodulatory [14] activity of different extracts of H. persicum.…”

“…Pimpinellin (C 13 H 10 O 5 ):1 H-NMR (300 MHz, CDCl 3 ); δ 8.06 (1H, d, J = 9.7 Hz, H-4),7.64 (1H, d, J = 2.0 Hz, H-2'), 7.05 (1H, d, J = 2.0 Hz, H-3'), 6.35 (1H, d, J = 9.7 Hz, H-3), 4.12 (3H, s, OCH 3 ), 4.01 (3H, s, OCH 3 ) 13. C-NMR (75 MHz, CDCl 3 ); δ 160.84 (C-2), 149.75 (C-7), 144.37 (C-2'), 144.39 (C-5), 143.13 (C-9), 139.92 (C-4), 135.08 (C-6), 114.06 (C-8), 113.68 (C-3), 109.40 (C-10), 104.27 (C 3'), 62.36 (OCH 3 ) 61.20 (OCH 3 ) [24].…”