- a Department of Pharmacology, Anton de Kom University of Suriname, Paramaribo, Suriname
- b Koninklijk
Instituut voor de Tropen (KIT)/Royal Tropical Institute, KIT Biomedical
Research, Parasitology Unit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Received 20 October 2015, Revised 13 January 2016, Accepted 13 January 2016, Available online 14 January 2016
Abstract
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE:
Plant-based preparations are extensively used in Surinamese folk medicine for treating leishmaniasis, but often without a scientific rationale.
AIM OF THE STUDY:
To evaluate 25 Surinamese medicinal plants for their potential efficacy against leishmaniasis.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
Concentrated
plant extracts were evaluated for their effect on the viability of L.
(V.) guyanensis AMC, L. (L.) major NADIM5, and L. (L.) donovani GEDII
promastigotes, as well as intracellular amastigotes of L. (L.) donovani
BHU814 in infected THP-1 cells. Selectivity was assessed by cytotoxicity
against THP-1 cells.
RESULTS:
The only plant extract that showed potentially meaningful anti-leishmanial
activity was that from Solanum lycocarpum that displayed mean IC50
values of about 51, 61, and <16 µg/mL against L. (V) guyanensis, L.
(L) major, and L. (L) donovani promastigotes, respectively; about 374
µg/mL against L. (L) donovani amastigotes; and >500 µg/mL against
THP-1 cells. The Bryophyllum pinnatum, Inga alba, and Quassia amara
extracts displayed moderate to high IC50 values against promastigotes
(about 51 to >500 µg/mL) and/or amastigotes (about 224 to >500
µg/mL) but were relatively toxic to THP-1 cells (IC50 values <16 to
about 42 µg/mL). The remaining plant extracts exhibited in many cases
IC50 values close to, around, or above 500µg/mL against promastigotes,
amastigotes, and THP-1 cells.
CONCLUSIONS:
The
S. lycocarpum preparation may be useful against leishmaniasis and may
have a good safety index, warranting further investigations into its
active constituents and mechanism(s) of action.
Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.
KEYWORDS:
Suriname; amastigote-phagocyte assay; anti-leishmanial activity; leishmaniasis; medicinal plants; promastigote assay
- [PubMed - in process]
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