Antileishmanial activity of Urtica dioica extract against zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis

Abstract

BackgroundNeglected parasitic diseases (NTDs) like cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) have caused high mortality and morbidity rate in developing countries. This disease is considered as one of the six major tropical diseases, and has a great importance in HIV infected individuals as an opportunistic infection in those areas that both infections are endemic. This study evaluated the therapeutic effects of the Urtica dioica L (U. dioica) aqueous extract as an anti-leishmanial herbal drug in-vitro and in-vivo, and in addition to that, evaluated two vital immune system cytokines including gamma interferon (IFN-γ) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) plus nitric oxide (NO) and arginase activity against Leishmania major (L. major) infected mice. Methodology/Principal findingsIn-vitro anti-leishmanial activity of U. dioica aqueous extract was determined using MTT method and also Parasite Rescue Transformation Assay. Also, the footpad lesion size and parasite load in BALB/c mice infected with L. major were quantified for in-vivo assessment. Furthermore, for evaluating the immune responses, the levels of IFN-γ, IL-4, NO and arginase were measured in the BALB/c mice. These results indicated that U. dioica extract significantly reduced the L. major promastigotes viability. According to the in-vitro cytotoxicity assay of the extract on Leishmania parasites (CC50) and infected macrophages (EC50), the extract had no toxicity to the macrophages, however it efficiently killed the L. major amastigotes. In addition, the lesion size, parasite load, IL-4, and ARG were decreased in the treated infected mice, however IFN-γ and NO were significantly increased. Conclusions/SignificanceThis study established satisfactory results in Leishmania parasite clearing both in-vivo and in-vitro. Therefore, U. dioica extract can be considered as an effective and harmless herbal compound for killing the parasite without toxicity to the host macrophages. Furthermore, it

In vitro Antileishmanial Activity of Some Ethiopian Medicinal Plants

“…The aqueous extract of U. dioica halted the growth of L. major promastigotes with IC 50 of 4500 μg/mL. 15 …”

An overview of the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis

“…The possible mechanism of action is via modulation of the immune response. It did not show toxicity in macrophages 62 .…”

Antimicrobial Activity of Ethanolic and Methanolic Extracts of Urtica dioica, Mentha longifolia, and Bacteriocin Produced by Lactobacillus casei Against Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria

“…Badirzadeh reported that U. dioica extracts present promising antiparasitic activity and can be considered as an effective and harmless herbal material [44]. Sura et al [45] investigated the antimicrobial activities of aquatic extracts of U. dioica by disk diffusionmethod.…”