CONTEXT Natural products and their compounds are some of the most interesting sources of new drugs. Reviews have reported various pharmacological properties such as antimicrobial effects of Zataria multiflora Boiss (Lamiaceae). OBJECTIVE The present study investigates the chemical composition of Z. multiflora essential oil and evaluates its cytotoxic effects and anti-leishmanial activities ag...

The susceptibility of promastigote of Leishmania major to Nystatin in vitro was examined. L. major (MHOM/PK/88/DESTO) promastigote were cultured in medium 199 supplemented with 10% heat inactivated foetal bovine serum and 2% urine. The growth of the promastigote was monitored in the absence and presence of the experimental compound (Nystatin) for upto 5 days post-inoculation. The EC50 value (th...

In this study, a methanolic extract from Echinaster (Othilia) echinophorus was evaluated for activity against Leishmania amazonensis. The extract showed activity against the promastigote and amastigote forms with IC50 values of 62.9 and 37.5 microg.mL-1 respectively. This extract showed a moderate toxicity on macrophages from BALB/c mice. A dose of 100 mg/kg/day was effective when administered ...

INTRODUCTION Leishmaniasis is a zoonotic disease caused by protozoa of the genus Leishmania . Cutaneous leishmaniasis is the most common form, with millions of new cases worldwide each year. Treatments are ineffective due to the toxicity of existing drugs and the resistance acquired by certain strains of the parasite. METHODS We evaluated the activity of sodium nitroprusside in macrophages in...

OBJECTIVES Previously, some nitroheteroaryl-1,3,4-thiadiazole derivatives were identified to have potent activity against Leishmania sp. The present aim was to complete the in vitro analysis, thereby investigating the in vivo efficiency of the analogues 15a, 21a and 21b against infected BALB/c mice. METHODS Following parasite inoculation and intraperitoneal drug administration (5 and 20 mg/kg...

The alkylphosphocholine miltefosine (n-hexadecylphosphocholine, MT) has been introduced recently as a very effective drug for the oral treatment of human leishmaniasis. However, the parasiticidal mechanism of MT at a molecular level is far from being understood. Here we report the synthesis and biological characterization of 16-mercaptohexadecylphosphocholine, a thiol analog of MT which was des...

Fractionation of Guatteria amplifolia yielded the alkaloids xylopine (1), nornuciferine (4), lysicamine (6), and laudanosine (5). Fractionation of Guatteria dumetorum yielded the alkaloids cryptodorine (2) and nornantenine (3). Compounds 1-4 demonstrated significant activity against Leishmania mexicana and L. panamensis. Xylopine (1) was among the most active compounds (LD 50 = 3 microM) and sh...

Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease that requires timely and inexpensive treatment. For this purpose, nanoemulsion with polyene macrolide antibiotic, or amphotericin B (NE-AmB), was developed. This study quantified the amount of drug permeated retained in intact lacerated human skin, simulating cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) processes. Toxicity macrophage keratinocyte cell lines, activi...

BACKGROUND The therapy of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is limited by resistance, toxicity and decreased bioavailability of the existing drugs coupled with dramatic increase in HIV-co-infection, non-availability of vaccines and down regulation of cell-mediated immunity (CMI). Thus, we envisaged combating the problem with plant-derived antileishmanial drug that could concomitantly mitigate the imm...