The cytotoxic and antileishmanial activity of extracts and fractions of leaves and fruits of Azadirachta indica (A Juss.)

Abstract

The leishmaniases are severe parasitic diseases that occur worldwide, caused by protozoa of the genus Leishmania. Studies with medicinal plants can lead to a range of possibilities for treating and improving the patients' quality of life. Research on Azadirachta indica fractions and extracts has shown that they have excellent anti-leishmanial activity based on bioactivity-guided fractionation of ethanolic extracts of leaves and seeds and in vitro activity against promastigotes. In this research the most effi cient extracts and fractions were selected for tests on intracellular amastigotes of Leishmania amazonensis. The ethanolic extract of the leaves and dichloromethane and chloroform fractions had IC 50 values of 38, 3.9 and 1.2 μg/mL for promastigotes and 9.8, 1.1 and 0.6 μg/mL for amastigotes, respectively, at 72 hours. For the ethanolic extract and dichloromethane fraction from nut tegument, the IC 50 was 2.7 and 2.1 μg/mL for promastigotes and 0.4 and 0.6 μg/mL for amastigotes. The cytotoxicity of the fractions presented selectivity that was between 8 to 32 times more toxic to promastigotes and 15 to 72 times to amastigotes than to macrophages. The extracts and fractions from leaves and fruits were more eff ective against amastigotes, and the fractionation increased activity against both promastigotes and amastigotes, enabling us to obtain potentially active fractions with low toxicity.

Eugenia unifloraL. Essential Oil as a Potential Anti-LeishmaniaAgent: Effects onLeishmania amazonensisand Possible Mechanisms of Action

“…Then, essential oil was added to the wells in serial dilutions of 400, 200, 100, 50, 25, 12.5, 6.25, and 3.12  μ g·mL −1 . The plate was kept at 26°C in a biological oxygen demand (BOD) incubator, and Leishmania was observed and counted by using a Neubauer hemocytometer after 24, 48, and 72 h to monitor growth and viability [25]. Assays were performed in triplicate and were repeated 3 times on different days.…”

A comprehensive review of phytochemical profile, bioactives for pharmaceuticals, and pharmacological attributes of Azadirachta indica

“…Ethanol, dichloromethane, and aqueous extracts of leaves and seeds exhibited in vitro activity against promastigotes and Leishmania amazonensis . Ethanolic extract was efficient against leishmaniases with minimal cytotoxic effects (Carneiro, ). Crude powder and aqueous extracts of seeds administered (1–3 g/kg of body weight) to sheep infected with GIT nematodes showed significant anthelmintic activity at higher concentration (Iqbal et al, ).…”

In vitro and in vivo susceptibility of Leishmania major to some medicinal plants

“…In this study, we examined the efficacy of a number of plant extracts against Leishmania major (L. major) parasite both in vivo using infected BALB/c mice and in vitro using parasite cultures. The plant extracts were derived from Carthamus tinctorius (Family: Asteraceae) (C. tinctorius) or safflower, Pimpinella anisum (Family: Apiaceae) (P. anisum), Cuminum cyminum (Family: Apiaceae) (C. cyminum), Cinnamomum verum (Family: Lauraceae) (C. verum) and Alhagi persarum (Family: Fabaceae) (A. persarum) [10][11][12][13][14][15] . Due to its diversity of climate, Iran is home for aforementioned plants where they grow profusely.…”