Hooshyar Hossein, Talari Safarali, Feyzi Fatemeh
Department of Parasitology, School of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, IR Iran ; Anatomical Science Research Center, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, IR Iran.
Department of Parasitology, School of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, IR Iran.
Jundishapur J Microbiol. 2014 Apr;7(4):e9432. doi: 10.5812/jjm.9432. Epub 2014 Apr 1.
Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is common and endemic in many areas of Iran, caused by species of a protozoan parasite belonging to the genus Leishmania. There is not any effective vaccine against leishmaniasis; so, therapy is important for prevention and separation of disease. Herbal extract for treatment of CL is cost-effective, applicable topically to lesions, and can avoid the development of drug resistance.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vivo activity of an alcoholic extract of Hedera helix (a native Iranian plant) on the experimental ulcer of zoonotic CL in Balb/c mice.
At least 5x l0(6) promastigotes of Leishmania major (MHOM/64/IR/ER75) were inoculated subcutaneously in the tail base of Balb/c mice. Fifty six infected mice were distributed in four groups, two groups (16 mice for 20% alcoholic extract of H. helix and 13 for 70% extract) were used as experimental groups, one (15 mice) as placebo control (Control A), and one (12 mice) as negative control. Treatment effects of two concentrations were determined by comparison of placebo and nontreated groups via measuring the size of skin lesions and the number of parasitologically positive and negative mice after the therapy period.
This study showed that the main lesion size did not decrease significantly, or the small lesions did not completely disappear after treatment by H. helix alcoholic extract. Amastigotes counts (mean ± SD) of the skin lesions decreased in control A and 20% concentration groups, but in negative control and 70% concentration groups the number of parasites did not reduce.
The present study did not support the in vivo antileishmanial effect of H. helix extract. We recommend further studies using major components of H. helix, especially hederasaponin (saponin K10), to investigate the antileishmanial effect of this plant on L. major.
皮肤利什曼病（CL）在伊朗许多地区常见且为地方性疾病，由利什曼原虫属的原生动物寄生虫引起。目前尚无针对利什曼病的有效疫苗；因此，治疗对于疾病的预防和隔离至关重要。用于治疗CL的草药提取物具有成本效益，可局部应用于病变部位，且能避免耐药性的产生。
本研究旨在评估常春藤（一种伊朗本土植物）乙醇提取物对Balb/c小鼠人兽共患CL实验性溃疡的体内活性。
将至少5×10⁶ 硕大利什曼原虫（MHOM/64/IR/ER75）前鞭毛体皮下接种于Balb/c小鼠尾基部。56只感染小鼠分为四组，两组（一组16只用于20%常春藤乙醇提取物，另一组13只用于70%提取物）作为实验组，一组（15只小鼠）作为安慰剂对照组（对照A），一组（12只小鼠）作为阴性对照组。通过在治疗期后测量皮肤病变大小以及寄生虫学检测阳性和阴性小鼠的数量，比较安慰剂组和未治疗组来确定两种浓度提取物的治疗效果。
本研究表明，用常春藤乙醇提取物治疗后，主要病变大小未显著减小，小病变也未完全消失。对照A组和20%浓度组皮肤病变中的无鞭毛体计数（平均值±标准差）有所下降，但阴性对照组和70%浓度组的寄生虫数量未减少。
本研究不支持常春藤提取物的体内抗利什曼原虫作用。我们建议进一步研究常春藤的主要成分，尤其是常春藤皂苷（皂苷K10），以研究该植物对硕大利什曼原虫的抗利什曼原虫作用。
