Topical Treatment of Leishmania tropica Infection Using (−)-α-Bisabolol Ointment in a Hamster Model: Effectiveness and Safety Assessment

Abstract

There is currently no reliable treatment for the management of cutaneous leishmaniasis, and intralesional antimonial injections remain the main treatment. The present work aims at evaluating the antileishmanial effectiveness and safety of (-)-α-bisabolol (1) in a novel topical formulation on a cutaneous leishmaniasis model involving Leishmania tropica-infected Syrian hamsters. The topical treatment with 1 reduced lesion thickness to 56% at 2.5%, showing a higher efficacy than the reference control, meglumine antimoniate. Other regimens (ointment at 1% and 5% and oral treatment at 200 mg/kg) reduced the footpad thickness as well. The skin parasite load decreased after the experiment in all treatment groups, particularly in those animals treated with the 2.5% formulation (83.2%). Treatment with (-)-α-bisabolol at different concentrations or through an oral route did not lead to the appearance of toxicity or side effects in healthy hamsters or infected animals. Therefore, topical (-)-α-bisabolol was more effective than meglumine antimoniate in this cutaneous leishmaniasis model without showing toxicity effects on the hamsters. These results are of great interest and might be used for the development of alternatives for the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis, either in monotherapy or in combination with other drugs whose skin permeability could be enhanced by this sesquiterpene.

Health Benefits, Pharmacological Effects, Molecular Mechanisms, and Therapeutic Potential of α-Bisabolol

“…The topical application of α-Bisabolol in treating cutaneous leishmaniasis was evaluated on hamsters for an antileishmanial potential. The formulation containing α-Bisabolol was observed to be associated with a decrease in the lesion and footpad thickness and with up to 83% reduction in the parasite load in comparison with the reference group [ 112 ]. These findings are suggestive of the promising possession of antileishmanial properties of α-Bisabolol in treating visceral leishmaniosis.…”

Use of Natural Products in Leishmaniasis Chemotherapy: An Overview

“…(-)-α-Bisabolol was also analyzed in vivo against a murine model of cutaneous leishmaniasis using L. tropica. Topical formulation was capable of reducing the lesion size and parasite burden (Corpas-López et al, 2016b). (-)-α-Bisabolol was employed in a different approach in a preclinical trial for a canine leishmaniasis model using naturally infected dogs.…”

Asteraceae Plants as Sources of Compounds Against Leishmaniasis and Chagas Disease

“…These results were even better than those observed for mice treated with meglumine antimoniate or the combination of meglumine antimoniate and α-bisabolol (Corpas-López et al, 2015). α-Bisabolol (in topical or oral treatment) was also shown to be effective in the treatment of cutaneous infection induced by L. tropica in hamsters (Corpas-López et al, 2016b). Recently, α-bisabolol was useful for the treatment of naturally acquired canine leishmaniasis.…”