In vitro antileishmanial activity of Mexican medicinal plants
Ronna Delgado-Altamirano,
Lianet Monzote,
Abel Piñón-Tápanes,
Heike Vibrans,
J. Fausto Rivero-Cruz,
César Ibarra-Alvarado,
Alejandra Rojas-Molina
Affiliations
Ronna Delgado-Altamirano
Posgrado en Ciencias Químico Biológicas, Facultad de Química, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, Cerro de las Campanas s/n, 76010, Querétaro, Mexico
Lianet Monzote
Departamento de Parasitología, Instituto de Medicina Tropical “Pedro Kourí”, Apdo Postal 601, Havana 10400, Cuba
Abel Piñón-Tápanes
Departamento de Parasitología, Instituto de Medicina Tropical “Pedro Kourí”, Apdo Postal 601, Havana 10400, Cuba
Heike Vibrans
Posgrado en Botánica, Colegio de Postgraduados, Carretera México-Texcoco km 36.5, 56230, Montecillo, Texcoco, Mexico
J. Fausto Rivero-Cruz
Departamento de Farmacia, Facultad de Química, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510, México D.F., Mexico
César Ibarra-Alvarado
Laboratorio de Investigación Química y Farmacológica de Productos Naturales, Facultad de Química, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, Cerro de las Campanas s/n, 76010, Querétaro, Mexico
Alejandra Rojas-Molina
Laboratorio de Investigación Química y Farmacológica de Productos Naturales, Facultad de Química, Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, Cerro de las Campanas s/n, 76010, Querétaro, Mexico
Aim of the study: To evaluate the anti-leishmanial activity and cytotoxicity of aqueous and organic extracts of ten plants used in Mexican traditional medicine as anti-parasitics. Materials and methods: For the organic extracts, plant material was macerated in dichloromethane (CH2Cl2) and dichloromethane/methanol (CH2Cl2/MeOH) (1:1) during two weeks; the aqueous extracts were prepared by infusion. The extracts were tested against promastigotes and intracellular amastigotes of Leishmania amazonensis. The cytotoxicity was assayed in parallel on peritoneal macrophages of BALB/c mice. Results: Four of the thirty extracts tested were active and selective against L. amazonensis promastigotes: Schinus molle (CH2Cl2 and CH2Cl2/MeOH), Lantana camara (CH2Cl2) and Prosopis laevigata (aqueous). These extracts had a median inhibitory concentration (IC50) against intracellular amastigotes under 50 μg/mL and a selectivity index (SI) higher than 5, which indicates that they constitute valuable candidates to obtain secondary metabolites with leishmanicidal activity. Conclusions: The results derived from this study indicate that L. camara, P. laevigata, and S. molle might provide interesting new leads for the development of antileishmanial drugs.
