The In Vitro Study of Anti-leishmanial Effect of Naja naja oxiana Snake Venom on Leishmania major

Abstract

Background: Although a majority of patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) are healed with Glucantime chemotherapy, the increased drug resistance rate following its consumption is a concern. In this study , Naja naja oxiana crude venom of cobra snakes was used for the first time as an assembled combination of bioactive pharmaceutical components on Leishmania major (L. major) standard strain . Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of the Naja naja oxiana crude venom of Iranian cobra snakes on Leishmania major standard strain in vitro. Methods: Five concentrations (1.25, 2.5, 5, 10 and 20 µg/mL) of venom were added to Leishmania major cultures at 24, 48 and 72 h. The viability of the parasites and venom toxicity were assessed by MTT test. The apoptosis was determined by flowcytometry, while IC50 was determined by counting parasites compared to that of glucantime. Each test was conducted in triplicate. Results: After exposure the venom at 2.5 µg/mL for 72 h, IC50 value was 0.36 µg/mL and 14.12 µg/mL for promastigotes and amastigotes, respectively. MTT valuation clarified 1.01% promastigotes viability. Furthermore, the results indicated that the venom of Naja naja oxiana induced early and late apoptosis in parasites. Conclusions: The venom of Naja naja oxiana revealed remarkable anti-leishmanial effects as a novel anti-parasitic alternative. Thus the bioactive and effective fractions of this venom may be considered as anti-leishmanial candidates in future studies.

The Potassium Channel Blocker β-Bungarotoxin from the Krait Bungarus multicinctus Venom Manifests Antiprotozoal Activity

“…So far, antiprotozoal activity has been found in snake venoms from various families and genera, including Asian elapids, as well as Asian, African and American viperids, and Colubrid [ 3 , 8 ]. Together with recent findings [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ], these data suggest that antiprotozoal activity may be a widespread property of snake venom.…”

Screening Snake Venoms for Toxicity to Tetrahymena Pyriformis Revealed Anti-Protozoan Activity of Cobra Cytotoxins

“…In particular, they include phospholipases A2 [6], L-amino acid oxidases [7] and cathelicidins [8]. Venoms of several snake species were shown to be toxic to protozoans [9][10][11][12] and identification of proteins manifesting anti-protozoan activity in viperid venoms revealed that phospholipase A2 [22], metalloproteinase [23], L-amino acid oxidase [24] and disintegrin [14] are toxic to different protozoa. For example, BnSP-7 toxin, a catalytically inactive phospholipase A2 from Bothrops pauloensis snake venom, showed activity against promastigote Leishmania amazonensis parasite forms, inhibiting parasite proliferation by 60-70% at toxin concentrations of 50-200 µg/mL 96 h after treatment [22].…”

“…However, the data about influence of cobra venom on protozoa were very limited. Thus, it was shown that N. haje venom exerted a significant growth inhibition of Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania donovani infantum parasites [25] and the venom of N. oxiana revealed remarkable anti-leishmanial effects [12].…”

“…The most studied are the venom effects on the vertebrates, while the effects on invertebrates are much less investigated. As for the action on different groups of invertebrates, there are some data about snake venom toxicity to arthropods [1][2][3], the most active against cockroaches being cytotoxins from cobra Toxins 2020, 12, 325 2 of 12 venom [1]. Antibacterial properties of snake venoms were also tested [4,5] and some active proteins were identified.…”

“…There are also some data about the influence of snake venoms on protozoa [9,10]. Recently the in vivo and in vitro antileishmanial activity of krait Bungarus caeruleus [11] and cobra Naja oxiana [12] venoms was demonstrated. It was also reported that the venom of the cobra Naja nigricollis possessed the capacity to kill Trypanosoma brucei, a parasitic protozoan [13].…”