High levels of antileishmanial immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies are associated with disease activity in visceral leishmaniasis. Herein, we report our observations about the relationship between antileishmanial IgE antibodies and clinical aspects of cutaneous leishmaniasis. This study was carried out with 45 patients (29 male and 16 female), with ages ranging from 11 to 48 years. All subjects w...

This work describes the synthesis of a series of quaternary ammonium salts and the assessment of their in vitro antileishmanial activity and cytotoxicity. A preliminary discussion on a structure-activity relationship of the compounds is also included. Three series of quaternary ammonium salts were prepared: (i) halomethylated quaternary ammonium salts (series I); (ii) non-halogenated quaternary...

OBJECTIVE Homalium letestui Pellegr (Flacourtiaceae) is used in traditional medicine in parts of Nigeria for the treatment of malaria, ulcer, and inflammatory diseases and as an aphrodisiac. This investigation was aimed to evaluate the cytotoxic, immunomodulatory, and antileishmanial properties of stem extract and fractions of Homalium letestui (H. letestui). MATERIALS AND METHODS Cytotoxic a...

Antileishmanial chemotherapy is hampered by the location of the parasite within the phagolysosome of the macrophage, which restricts the bioavailability of many potentially useful antileishmanial drugs. In this study, the possibility of using antileishmanial drugs targeted to the infected macrophages by means of a chemical linkage to a neutral mannose-substituted poly-L-lysine carrier molecule ...

In our studies of host defense to the intracellular protozoan Leishmania major, we uncovered a novel mechanism of antileishmanial defense that involves direct cell contact between effector CD4+ lymphocytes and Leishmania-infected macrophages. The mechanism is distinctive because it does not involve lymphokine secretion and induces no cytotoxic effects in the host cells; its expression is antige...

Objective: Homalium letestui Pellegr (Flacourtiaceae) is used in traditional medicine in parts of Nigeria for the treatment of malaria, ulcer, and inflammatory diseases and as an aphrodisiac. This investigation was aimed to evaluate the cytotoxic, immunomodulatory, and antileishmanial properties of stem extract and fractions of Homalium letestui (H. letestui). Materials and Methods: Cytotoxic a...

Leishmaniasis is a neglected public health problem caused by the protozoan species belonging to the genus Leishmania affecting mostly the poor populations of developing countries. The causative organism is transmitted by female sandflies. Cutaneous, mucocutaneous, and visceral clinical manifestations are the most frequent forms of leishmaniasis. Chemotherapy still relies on the use of pentavale...

BACKGROUND Therapeutic response in infectious disease involves host as well as microbial determinants. Because the immune and inflammatory response to Leishmania (Viannia) species defines the outcome of infection and efficacy of treatment, immunomodulation is considered a promising therapeutic strategy. However, since Leishmania infection and antileishmanial drugs can themselves modulate drug t...

The antileishmanial and antimalarial activities of different fractions of Vincetoxicum stocksii, Carum copticum, Gentiana olivierii and Zygophyllum fabago were determined. Amongst these, V. stocksii and C. copticum showed moderate to good antimalarial activity. The ethyl acetate fractions of C. copticum and hexane fraction of V. stocksii showed 94 % and 52% inhibition of Plasmodium falciparum (...