objective(s) annual incidence of cutaneous leishmaniasis is increasingly growing and development of the alternative drugs against it is a major concern. artemisia genus is a traditional medicinal plant in iran. the aim of this study was to examine the leishmanicidal activity of various iranian artemisia species extracts. materials and methods different extracts were gathered from eleven iranian...

Leishmania donovani, an intracellular protozoan, causes kala-azar by parasitizing the macrophages of its mammalian host. Outbred NCS and CD-1 mice develop immunity to this parasite. This immunity was demonstrable when supernatant fluids from cultured splenic lymphocytes were added to infected macrophages. Only the lymphokine preparations from infected mice showed significant leishmanicidal acti...

OBJECTIVES Annual incidence of cutaneous leishmaniasis is increasingly growing and development of the alternative drugs against it is a major concern. Artemisia genus is a traditional medicinal plant in Iran. The aim of this study was to examine the leishmanicidal activity of various Iranian Artemisia species extracts. MATERIALS AND METHODS Different extracts were gathered from eleven Iranian...

Hexadecylphosphocholine (miltefosine), a membrane-active alkylphospholipid, may be the first effective oral agent for visceral leishmaniasis, an intracellular protozoal infection of tissue macrophages. In vitro, miltefosine stimulates T cells and macrophages to respond to and secrete activating cytokines, including interferon (IFN)-gamma, and enhances macrophage production of microbicidal react...

BACKGROUND The leishmanicidal and cytotoxic activity of ten essential oils obtained from ten plant specimens were evaluated. METHODS Essential oils were obtained by the steam distillation of plant leaves without any prior processing. Cytotoxicity was tested on J774 macrophages and leishmanicidal activity was assessed against four species of Leishmania associated with cutaneous leishmaniasis. ...

Flagellates of the genus Leishmania are obligate intracellular parasites of vertebrates including man. The microorganisms reside and multiply inside the phagolysosomes of cells of the mononuclear phagocyte lineage. We here report on the spontaneous leishmanicidal activity exerted extracellularly by immature cells of the mononuclear phagocyte lineage. Highly purified, bone marrow-derived macroph...

Natural compounds represent a rich and promising source of novel, biologically active chemical entities for treating leishmaniasis. Sesquiterpene lactones are a recognized class of terpenoids with a wide spectrum of biological activities, including activity against Leishmania spp. In this work, a sesquiterpene lactone-rich preparation-a leaf rinse extract (LRE) from Tithonia diversifolia-was te...

Purpose: To evaluate the leishmanicidal and cytotoxic activity of alcohol and non-alcohol extracts and saponins from Ilex laurina. Methods: Extracts were obtained by percolation with solvents of different polarities: hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and ethanol. The ethyl acetate extract was subjected to silica gel column chromatography eluting with a step gradient of dichloromethane-meth...

Herein, we report the synthesis of 12 new naphthoquinone derivatives, 6 substituted 1,4-naphthoquinones and 6 heterocycle-fused naphthoquinones, as well as evaluation of their trypanocidal and leishmanicidal activities. Compounds 11a and 13a were active against the amastigote stage of T. cruzi and showed low cytotoxic effects. With respect to leishmanicidal assays, all compounds were inactive a...

Alkaloids from Thalictrum flavum L. (Ranuculaceae) growing in the Loire valley (France) were isolated and evaluated for their antiplasmodial and leishmanicidal activities. Berberine was identified as a major component but its analogue, pseudoberberine, was isolated for the first time from this plant. As far as bisbenzylisoquinolines are concerned, thalfoetidine was also isolated and, besides, i...