Title of article :
Anti-Leishmanial Activity of Artemisia persica, A. spicigera, and A. fragrance against Leishmania major
Author/Authors :
Najm, Mehdi Department of Parasitology and Mycology - School of Medicine - Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran , Hadighi, Ramtin Department of Parasitology and Mycology - School of Medicine - Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran , Heidari-Kharaji, Maryam Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS)-Centre Armand-Frappier Santé Biotechnologie (CAFSB), Quebec, Canada , Alipour, Maryam Department of Parasitology and Mycology - School of Medicine - Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran , Hajizadeh, Maryam Department of Parasitology and Mycology - School of Medicine - Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran , Rafiei-Sefiddashti, Raheleh Department of Parasitology and Mycology - School of Medicine - Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran , Heidari, Aliehsan Department of Medical Parasitology - School of Medicine - Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj , Badirzadeh, Alireza Department of Parasitology and Mycology - School of Medicine - Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran
Abstract :
Background: Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) like zoonotic cutaneous
leishmaniasis (ZCL), is a widespread infectious disease with high mortality and
morbidity. Various medications are used for treating the disease, but several side
effects and drug resistance have been reported. Herbal medicines are unlimited
sources for discovering new medications to treat infectious diseases. We aimed to
determine the leishmanicidal activity of three species of Iranian Artemisia herbal
plant extracts in in-vitro.
Methods: In-vitro anti-leishmanial activity of ethanolic extracts on both promastigotes
and amastigotes was determined by using MTT method. IC50, CC50,
EC50 and SI were calculated. The study was done in 2019-2020 in Iran University
of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Results: All of the three Artemisia species significantly reduced the number of
parasite promastigotes. Among them, A. persica had the highest leishmanicidal
activity against parasite promastigotes. Cytotoxicity assay elucidated that the Artemisia
had no toxicity to the host cells, and killed the L. major amastigotes very
efficiently. By increasing the dose of extracts, the parasite number in both phases
(promastigotes and amastigotes) was reduced significantly.
Conclusion: These results indicated satisfactory anti-leishmanial activity of Artemisia
extracts against ZCL in-vitro. Accordingly, Artemisia ethanolic extracts
might be considered as a strong, effective and safe herbal compound for clearing
the L. major with less toxicity to the host macrophages cells. Hence, it may be
recognized as an excellent herbal therapy for treating the ZCL.
