Antileishmanial activity of spirogyra spp extracts against Leishmania (L) tropica [MHOM/IR/NADIM3] promastigotes: An in vitro study

Introduction and Objectives: Leishmaniasis is regarded as a major public health problem in low health literacy and status regions of the world. Because of the toxicity and side-effects of the synthetic drugs, there is growing idea to use of natural sources material. So, the aim of the current study was to determine effect of green prevalent algae extracts against Leishmania (L) tropica [MHOM/IR/NADIM3] promastigotes in stationary phase. Materials and Methods: Hydro alcoholic spirogyra spp extracts (SSE) was obtained and stored in –80°C until the date of use. Leishmania major promastigotes (PM) were cultivated in RPMI 1640 to a final concentration of 4×106 cells/ml. 11 experimental groups were designed as follows: Group 1 as control: 200 μl of RPMI1640 + 4×106 cells/ml PMs. Group 2: 200 μl of RPMI1640 + 4×106 cells/ml PMs + 1 μg SSE. Groups 3-6 were similar to group 2 except 5, 25, 125 and 725 μg SSE were added to the culture. Groups 7-11 were similar to the groups 2-6, except the Glucantime with the same levels added to the culture. Then 24 h after, the anti-Leishmania bioassay were determined by with the Cell proliferation ELISA method. Results: No difference detected on anti- Leishmania activity of the SEE levels compared to the control group (P=0.124). Also, there was no significant difference among various levels of the Glucantime compared to the control group (P=0.248). There was no significant difference on levels of 1-125 μg of SEE compared to Glucantime (P> 0.05) but a significant difference detected on anti-Leishmania activity of the 725 μg of SEE compared to Glucantime (P<0.05). Conclusion: These results suggest that SEE have medical potential similar to the Glucantime. Further researches are needed to determine cellular and molecular mechanism of action.

Keywords:

Spirogyra spp , Hydro alcoholic extract , Glucantime , Leishmania tropica.