Leishmaniasis is a disease that affects millions of people and it is an important
public health problem. The drugs currently used for the treatment of
leishmaniasis present undesirable side effects and low efficacy. In this study,
we evaluated the
in vitro
activity of
Melampodium
divaricatum
(MD-EO) and
Casearia sylvestris
(CS-EO) essential oils (EO) against promastigote and amastigote forms of
Leishmania amazonensis
. Sesquiterpenes
E
-caryophyllene (56.0%), germacrene D (12.7%) and
bicyclogermacrene (9.2%) were identified as the main components of
MD-EO
,
whereas
E
-caryophyllene (22.2%),
germacrene D (19.6%) and bicyclogermacrene (12.2%) were the main constituents of
CS-EO. CS-EO and
E
-caryophyllene were active against
promastigote forms of
L. amazonensis
(IC
50
24.2,
29.8 and 49.9 µg/mL, respectively). However, MD-EO, CS-EO and
E
-caryophyllene were more active against amastigote forms, with
IC
50
values of 10.7, 14.0, and 10.7 µg/mL, respectively.
E
-caryophyllene presented lower cytotoxicity against
macrophages J774-A1 (CC
50
of 62.1 µg/mL) than the EO. The EOs and
E
-caryophyllene should be further studied for the
development of new antileishmanial drugs.
The composition of the essential oil (EO) from leaves of Vernonia polyanthes and the evaluation of its leishmanicidal potential are reported here for the first time. The oil obtained by hydrodistillation was analysed by combination of GC and GC/MS. Thirty-five compounds were identified, representing 91.8% of the oil composition. The oil consists primarily of monoterpenes (37.1%), sesquiterpenes (26.3%) and oxygenated sesquiterpenes (23.9%), myrcene (34.3%), zerumbone (15.8%), bicyclogermacrene (8.9%), α-humulene (4.8%) and germacrene D (4.3%) being the major constituents. Activity against Leishmania infantum was determined using the tetrazolium dye (MTT) colorimetric method. The oil, as well as zerumbone, one of its major constituents, showed significant leishmanicidal activity, with IC values of 19.4 and 9.0 μg/ml, respectively. Cytotoxicity in macrophages cells was evaluated using the MTT colorimetric assay. The EO showed the CC < 10 μg/ml to macrophages cells.
Melampodium divaricatum is an herbaceous species, naturally occurring in the Northeast regions of Brazil and is known for its medicinal value and the action against oral pathogens. The objective of this study was to verify the synergistic effect and activity against biofilm formation of the EO from M. divaricatum against bacteria associated with dental caries. The checkerboard assays was used to investigate the in vitro antimicrobial efficacy of the combination of Chlorhexidine dichlorohydrate with M. divaricatum EO. The microtitration plate assay was used for determination the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration of Biofilm (MICB50) of essential oil against the bacteria. The synergistic effect and activity against biofilm formation of the essential oil (EO) from M. divaricatum against bacteria associated with dental caries were observed. The combination effects of EO with chlorhexidine were additive to L. casei, antagonic to S. mutans and indifferent to S. sobrinuns and S. mitis. The antibiofilm activity revealed significant results MICB50 values (200 at 400 µg/mL). This report suggests that the EO is a promising natural product to develop novel therapeutic strategies to fight against cariogenic bacteria.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.