In Vitro and In Vivo Effectiveness of Carvacrol, Thymol and Linalool against Leishmania infantum

Molecules

Giovanni Benelli¹  Stefania Sut²  Abdolmajid Fata³  BibiRazieh Hosseini Farash³  Elham Moghaddas³  Stefano Dall’Acqua⁴  AliAkbar Moghadamnia⁵  MohammadReza Youssefi⁶  SeyedMohammad Hosseini⁷  MohaddesehAbouhosseini Tabari⁸  Riccardo Petrelli⁹  Filippo Maggi⁹  MohammadAmin Ebrahimi^1,10  NikiNabavi Mousavi^1,10 

[1] Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, via del Borghetto 80, 56124 Pisa, Italy;Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment (DAFNAE), University of Padova, 35020 Legnaro, Italy;Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad 9177899191, Iran;Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, 35121 Padova, Italy;Department of Pharmacology, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol 8415683111, Iran;Department of Veterinary Parasitology, Babol-Branch, Islamic Azad University, Babol 8415683111, Iran;Department of Veterinary Pathology, Babol-Branch Islamic Azad University, Babol 8415683111, Iran;Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Amol University of Special Modern Technologies, Amol 46131, Iran;School of Pharmacy, University of Camerino, 62032 Camerino, Italy;Young Researcher and Elite Club, Islamic Azad University, Babol-Branch, Babol 8415683111, Iran;

关键词: insect vectors;    neglected tropical diseases;    protozoan parasites;    sandflies;    visceral leishmaniasis;   

DOI  :  10.3390/molecules24112072

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Background: One of the most important causative agents of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is Leishmania infantum, which is mainly spread by Phlebotomus and Lutzomyia sandflies in the Old and New World, respectively. Novel and effective drugs to manage this neglected vector-borne disease are urgently required. In this study, we evaluated the toxicity of carvacrol, thymol and linalool, three common essential oil constituents, on amastigotes and promastigotes of L. infantum. Methods: in vitro experiments were performed by 24 h MTT assay. Carvacrol, thymol and linalool at concentrations ranging from 1.3 to 10 μg/mL were tested on promastigotes of L. infantum. For in vivo test, two groups of hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) received 100 mg/kg of body weight/day of carvacrol and thymol as intraperitoneal injection on day 7 post-infection, followed by a 48 h later injection. The third group was treated with the glucantime as standard drug (500 mg/kg) and the last group (control) just received normal saline. On the 16th day, the number of parasites and histopathological changes in liver and spleen were investigated. Results: 24 h MTT assay showed promising antileishmanial activity of thymol and carvacrol, with IC₅₀ values of 7.2 (48 μM) and 9.8 μg/mL (65 μM), respectively. Linalool at all concentrations did not affect L. infantum promastigote viability. In vivo toxicity data of carvacrol and thymol showed that the former at 100 mg/kg was the safest and most effective treatment with little side effects on the liver. Conclusions: Overall, thymol and carvacrol are highly promising candidates for the development of effective and safe drugs in the fight against VL.

【 授权许可】

Unknown