Leishmaniasis is a zoonotic disease caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania.Conventional chemotherapy remains to be the most preferred measure against leishmaniasis despite being associated with high tox...Leishmaniasis is a zoonotic disease caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania.Conventional chemotherapy remains to be the most preferred measure against leishmaniasis despite being associated with high toxicity and relapse rates.They are also expensive and require hospitalization.Plant-based compounds provide a better treatment alternative because they are effective,cheap,and less associated with toxicity and resistance.This study examined the therapeutic potential of Warburgia ugandensis,Prunus africana,and Piliostigma thonningii against Leishmania donovani infection in BALB/c mice.Anti-promastigote and toxicity studies were evaluated by incubating the test compound with promastigotes and Vero cells,respectively.Serum was obtained from the mice for total immunoglobulin gamma(IgG)quantification.For in vivo studies,the mice were infected with virulent Leishmania donovani then treated with methanolic extracts of Warburgia ugandensis,Prunus africana,and Piliostigma thonningii and control drug,pentostam(sodium stibogluconate).Treatment with the plant extracts and standard drug resulted to significant reduction in parasite burden.Outcomes in the mice treated with plant extracts were comparable to those treated with pentostam(P≥0.05).In the promastigote assay,all the test compounds killed more than half of the promastigotes at the highest concentration(500μg/mL).Warburgia ugandensis,P.thonningii,and P.africana reduced the number of promastigotes from 2.0×10^(6) to 7.7×10^(3),72.0×10^(3),and 5.0×10^(3),respectively.Pentostam had the lowest IC50(210μg/mL),followed by Warburgia ugandensis(IC50 of 270μg/mL).Piliostigma thonningii and P.africana were less toxic with IC50 of 720μg/mL and 500μg/mL,respectively.There was low production of IgG antibodies following treatment with the plant extracts and high levels in the untreated control.展开更多
文摘Leishmaniasis is a zoonotic disease caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania.Conventional chemotherapy remains to be the most preferred measure against leishmaniasis despite being associated with high toxicity and relapse rates.They are also expensive and require hospitalization.Plant-based compounds provide a better treatment alternative because they are effective,cheap,and less associated with toxicity and resistance.This study examined the therapeutic potential of Warburgia ugandensis,Prunus africana,and Piliostigma thonningii against Leishmania donovani infection in BALB/c mice.Anti-promastigote and toxicity studies were evaluated by incubating the test compound with promastigotes and Vero cells,respectively.Serum was obtained from the mice for total immunoglobulin gamma(IgG)quantification.For in vivo studies,the mice were infected with virulent Leishmania donovani then treated with methanolic extracts of Warburgia ugandensis,Prunus africana,and Piliostigma thonningii and control drug,pentostam(sodium stibogluconate).Treatment with the plant extracts and standard drug resulted to significant reduction in parasite burden.Outcomes in the mice treated with plant extracts were comparable to those treated with pentostam(P≥0.05).In the promastigote assay,all the test compounds killed more than half of the promastigotes at the highest concentration(500μg/mL).Warburgia ugandensis,P.thonningii,and P.africana reduced the number of promastigotes from 2.0×10^(6) to 7.7×10^(3),72.0×10^(3),and 5.0×10^(3),respectively.Pentostam had the lowest IC50(210μg/mL),followed by Warburgia ugandensis(IC50 of 270μg/mL).Piliostigma thonningii and P.africana were less toxic with IC50 of 720μg/mL and 500μg/mL,respectively.There was low production of IgG antibodies following treatment with the plant extracts and high levels in the untreated control.
