In Vitro Anti-leishmanial Effects of Hydroalcoholic Extracts From Six Iranian Medicinal Herbs on Leishmania major (MRHO/IR/75/ER) Promastigotes

Background: Cutaneous leishmaniasis is endemic in 11 Iranian provinces, and almost 80% of all cases are the rural cutaneous form caused by Leishmania major. The main important drug used to treat leishmaniasis is a five-capacity antimony compound that has hinders disease recurrence, drug resistance, complications, and long treatment duration. Objectives: It seems necessary to search for new, natural medicine to replace the use of drugs, particularly herbal compounds with no side effects. Materials and Methods: Different dilutions of extracts were prepared with 1 mg/mL of the extracts in 96-well plates. Cultivated 106Leishmania major promastigotes in culture flasks containing RPMI1640 medium and 10% of brain heart infusion (BHI) were counted using neobar lam and poured into each well. Following 72 hours incubation, MTT solution was added to each well, and then absorbance was documented with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) reader at 570 nm. Results: IC50 of Allium hirtifolium (87g/mL) and Ziziphus spina-christi (112g/mL) extracts showed higher efficiency in inhibiting the growth of promastigotes over 72 hours. Conclusions: Allium hirtifolium and Z. spina-christi extracts showed the most efficient activity in the inhibition of promastigote growth, but this was not total. The remaining plant extracts indicated ineffective or very weak efficiency on the Leishmania promastigotes. There is a possibility of achieving better results by changing the extraction method; determining materials affecting promastigotes and extracting these materials exactly; or converting extracts to other medicinal forms, such as ointment or gel.