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The present study aims to evaluate the in vitro and in vivo antileishmanial activities of Pistacia khinjuk Stocks (Anacardiaceae) alcoholic extract and to compare its efficacy with a reference drug, meglumine antimoniate (MA, Glucantime), against Leishmania tropica and Leishmania major. This extract (0–100 µg/mL) was evaluated in vitro against promastigote and intracellular amastigote forms of L. tropica (MRHO/IR/75/ER) and then tested on cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in male BALB/c mice with L. major to reproduce the antileishmanial activity topically. In vitro, P. khinjuk extract significantly (P < 0.05) inhibited the growth rate of promastigote (IC50 58.6 ± 3.2 µg/mL) and intramacrophage amastigotes (37.3 ± 2.5 µg/mL) of L. tropica as a dose-dependent response. In the in vivo assay, after 30 days of treatment, 75% recovery was observed in the infected mice treated with 30% extract. After treatment of the subgroups with the concentration of 20 and 30% of P. khinjuk extract, mean diameter of lesions was significantly (P < 0.05) reduced. To conclude, the present investigation demonstrated that P. vera extract had in vitro and in vivo effectiveness against L. major. Obtained findings also provide the scientific evidences that natural plants could be used in the traditional medicine for the prevention and treatment of CL.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a major public health problem in tropical and subtropical countries worldwide. Treatment of CL by pentavalent antimony compounds remains a challenge because of limited efficacy, toxic side effects and drug resistance. In the present study, in vitro antileishmanial and cytotoxic activity of garlic extracts against promastigote forms of Leishmania tropica and murine macrophages was evaluated by colorimetric cell viability (MTT) assay. The results revealed that the methanolic and aqueous extracts of garlic were effective in inhibiting promastigote growth of L. tropica with IC 50 (50 % inhibitory concentrations) values 12.3 and 19.2 lg/ml, respectively. In addition, methanolic and aqueous extracts of garlic showed low cytotoxicity against murine macrophages with CC 50 (cytotoxicity concentration for 50 % of cells) values 291.4 and 348.2 lg/ml, respectively. Findings of present study were the first step in the search for new antileishmanial drugs. However, further works are required to evaluate exact effect of these extracts in volunteer human subjects.

The present study was aimed to evaluate the lethal effects of Zataria multiflora Boiss (Lamiaceae) methanolic extract against Echinococcus granulosus protoscoleces. Protoscoleces were aseptically aspirated from sheep livers having hydatid cysts. Various concentrations of the essential oil (2.5-20 mg/mL) were used for 10-60 min. Viability of protoscoleces was confirmed using eosin exclusion test (0.1 % eosin staining). Obtained results showed that Z. multiflora extract at the concentration of 20 mg/mL after 10 min of exposure killed 100 % protoscoleces. The mean of mortality rate of protoscoleces after 20 min of exposure to the concentration of 10 mg/mL was also 100 %. Lower concentrations of Z. multiflora extract provoked a delayed protoscolicidal activity. The findings indicated potential of Z. multiflora methanolic extract as a natural source for the producing of new scolicidal agent for use in hydatid cyst surgery.

Objective In chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), lack of expression or dysregulation of some special miRs disrupts apoptosis of malignant cells; thereby miR expression can enhance cell proliferation, disease progression and decrease patient survival. Results 30 CLL patients and 20 healthy individuals participated in the study. RNA was extracted to evaluate the expression of miR-125, miR-223, BCL-2 and signal transducer and transcription 3 activator (STAT3) genes; quantitative Real Time- PCR (Q-RT-PCR) was performed. MiR-125a and miR-223 expression decreased in the patients compared to the control group (P-Value:0.001). BCL-2 and STAT3 which are the target genes of these two miRs, showed increased expression, in the patients compared to the control subjects (P-Value: 0.001 and P-Value: 0.64 respectively). A significant reverse relationship was found between miR-125a and BCl-2 expression and WBC count. Significantly, miR-223 expression was associated with smoking in patients (P-Value: 0.007). Also, these miRs may have regulatory effects by controlling white blood cell (WBC) production based on the inverse correlation with WBC count and hemoglobin (Hb) concentration. Finally, miR-223 can be used as a prognostic factor in CLL patients; miR-125a may be useful for evaluating the therapeutic approaches based on the inverse link with BCl-2.