Volume 5, Issue 9, September 2015, Pages 695–701
Open Access
Abstract
Many
native plants in traditional medicine have been used for the treatment
of cutaneous leishmaniasis and the recent clinical trials have proven
the efficacy of some of them. Researches conducted on these plants have
shown that garlic, shallots, wormwood, yarrow, walnuts, thyme, henna
plant, mimosa, aloe, wood betony, medlar, periwinkle, yeah, savory,
black beans, etc. are effective on cutaneous leishmania.
Synthetic agents in Iranian market have some disadvantages such as high
cost and side effects and are painful in injections. Given the
effectiveness of these plants, they can be a source of natural and safe
compounds for the treatment of Leishmania. Therefore, more
clinical researches should be done to determine the effectiveness and
safety of these medicinal plants, their active ingredients and their
possible toxic substances which can lead to the production of effective
and safe drugs for leishmaniasis. It also might be an effective way to
prepare herbal ointment on wound healing.
Keywords
- Leishmania;
- Leishmaniasis;
- Native medicinal plants;
- Iran
1. Introduction
Leishmaniasis is one of the six major infectious diseases in the world caused by various species of the genus Leishmania. Leishmaniasis is a public health problem in many tropical and subtropical countries like Iran [1]. Leishmania
is the protozoan parasite whose family included Trypanosomatida. The
disease is endemic in 81 countries. Annually, one to one and a half
million new cases of the disease were reported in the world. Clinical
features of leishmaniasis disease include cutaneous, mucocutaneous and
visceral forms [2] and [3].
Cutaneous
leishmaniasis (CL) is a parasitic disease spread by flies and common in
many tropical and subtropical countries of the world. Probably about 12
million cases of CL in different parts of the world occur annually and
350 million people are at risk of developing the disease. Currently 88
countries in worldwide are infected with CL [4].
Several
studies have shown that CL in the world is increasing. Annually,
approximately 20 000 cases of leishmaniasis have been reported from
different parts of the world and actual amount has estimated several
times [5].
In Iran, approximately fifteen thousand people are infected with
leishmaniasis. Based on existing researches, the actual incidence of
leishmaniasis is four to five times of the current reports and incidence
is 0.27 per thousand [6] and [7].
In
this review study, related information was obtained from available
ancient sources such as Iranian traditional books. Accordingly, a wide
spectrum of plants was found to be useful for cleansing and protecting
the liver. Finally, the obtained data was compared with those reported
in modern medicinal databases covering all in vitro and in vivo
leishmaniasis investigations. In the present article, the literature
review was performed by using scientific information database focusing
on the keyword of leishmaniasis.
2. Chemical agents in the treatment of leishmaniasis
At
the present time, various chemical agents are used in the treatment of
CL. Among them, the compounds of antimony (pentavalent), antimalarial
drugs like chloroquine, quinacrine, emetine, metronidazole and
minomycline antibiotics, tetracycline and rifampin are also used.
Treatment
depending on the parasite species and determination of specification is
important to plan control and prevention. Antimony compounds are the
first line treatment of CL. Its two compounds, meglumine antimonate
(glucantime) and sodium gluconate acetic (pantocetam), are commercially
available and 5-valent antimony compounds, glucantime, the most common
medications are used to treat CL in Iran and other parts of the world [8], [9] and [10].
These drugs have side effects, including increased liver enzymes.
Glucantime is an expensive and painful injection drug and its usage in
patients with kidney and liver problems is not permitted [11], [12] and [13]. The use of compounds that are free of these problems and disadvantages, is necessary [14], [15] and [16]. The use of medicinal plants in the historical record rises increasingly [17], [18], [19], [20], [21], [22], [23] and [24].
Medicinal plant is an effective source of pharmaceutical products in Iran [25], [26], [27], [28], [29], [30] and [31]. These drugs are inexpensive and proven to have health effects [32], [33] and [34]. Iran currently produces about 820 herbal drugs [35], [36], [37] and [38].
Today, clinical research and empirical studies on the subject of
medicinal plants have been done in different parts of the world
especially in Iran [23], [39], [40], [41], [42], [43] and [44].
