In Vitro Effects of Turmeric and Licorice Total Extracts on L. Major Promastigotes

Document Type : Original Article (s)

Authors

1 Skin Diseases and Leishmaniasis Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Skin Diseases and Leishmaniasis Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan and Skin and Stem Cell Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

3 Professor, Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

4 Associate Professor, Department of Parasitology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

5 Researcher, Skin Diseases and Leishmaniasis Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan Iran

Abstract

Background: Pentavalent antimonial compounds are the main treatment option for cutaneous leishmaniasis. However, their clinical use has limitations such as lack of efficacy by oral route, long-term treatment period, emergence of drug resistance in about 10-15% of cases, cardiac toxicity, and reversible renal insufficiency.  Curcumins are phenolic derivatives extracted from turmeric rhizome which have anti-leishmania effects. Intraperitoneal injection of licochalcone A, extracted from licorice root, prevents ulcer in BALB/c mice infected by L. major.  As a part of screening of Iranian herbs with potential antileishmanial activity, the effects of total extract of turmeric and licorice on L. major culture were assessed in this study.Methods: Serial concentrations of 0.4, 0.5, 1, 2.5, 5 and 10 mg/ml were prepared from the dried plant extract. Moreover, 400 microliters of the parasite suspension was added to all test tubes except for the negative control in which only the culture media was added. Amphotericin B 0.1 mg/ml was used as the positive control. The average numbers of promastigotes of all three series of test tubes were calculated. For each concentration, percent of alive parasites at different times were recorded. The results were expressed as IC50 of each extract.Findings: The 2 mg/ml concentration of turmeric extracts resulted in rapid death of promastigotes compared to 0.2 mg/ml concentration which killed them after 88 hours of exposure. The effects of licorice total extract were similar to negative control at lower concentrations (0.5 and 1 mg/ml). Increasing the concentration up to 16 mg/ml killed more promastigotes. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that both turmeric and licorice total extracts have antileishmanial effects in-vitro. However, the overall activity of licorice on promastigotes is much less than turmeric. It also kills parasites at higher doses.

Keywords

References

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Journal of Isfahan Medical School
Volume 29, Issue 169 - Serial Number 169
November and December 2012
Pages 2541-2551

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History

  • Receive Date: 27 April 2011
  • Revise Date: 01 November 2024
  • Accept Date: 06 April 2022

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