Parasitology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India.
Acta Parasitol. 2021 Sep;66(3):812-826. doi: 10.1007/s11686-020-00326-8. Epub 2021 Feb 2.
Visceral leishmaniasis is one of the ignored parasitic infection affecting millions of people globally. Currently, available treatment options are unsatisfactory because of high cost and side effects of the leishmanicidal drugs. Therefore, herbal medicines provide a promising choice for the detection of efficient and novel leishmanicidal therapeutics which can rejuvenate the immune response of the host with less adverse effects. The objective of the present study was to determine the in vitro and in vivo effect of hydroethanolic extract of Bauhinia variegata (HEBV) against Leishmania donovani.
The in vitro efficacy and cytotoxicity of HEBV was checked against L. donovani and THP1 human macrophages. Further HEBV (500 and 1000 mg/kg b.wt.) were given orally to inbred BALB/c mice infected with L. donovani for 2 weeks and euthanized on 14th post treatment day. Various parameters like parasite load, delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) responses, T cells, Th1/Th2 cytokines, histological and biochemical tests were investigated.
HEBV showed marked antileishmanial activity with cell cycle arrest at sub-G0/G1 phase. HEBV was found to be more effective at higher dose in declining parasite concentration in the spleen as compared to the lower dose. Moreover, the extract augmented the DTH reaction and T cell responses in the infected mice. Oral administration of HEBV caused the enhancement of disease-suppressing Th1 cytokines and suppression of disease-progressing Th2 cytokines with no toxicities.
Thus, HEBV showed the antileishmanial efficacy through the generation of pro-inflammatory immunity of the host which further suggests the mechanistic exploration of it as a leishmanicidal therapeutic.
内脏利什曼病是一种被忽视的寄生虫感染，影响着全球数百万人。目前，由于抗利什曼原虫药物的成本高和副作用大，可用的治疗选择并不令人满意。因此，草药为检测有效和新颖的抗利什曼原虫治疗方法提供了有希望的选择，这些方法可以在减少不良反应的情况下恢复宿主的免疫反应。本研究的目的是确定白花油麻藤（HBV）水醇提取物对利什曼原虫的体外和体内作用。
检查了 HBV 对利什曼原虫和 THP1 人巨噬细胞的体外疗效和细胞毒性。进一步将 HBV（500 和 1000mg/kg b.wt.）口服给予感染利什曼原虫的近交 BALB/c 小鼠，连续给药 2 周，并在治疗后 14 天处死。研究了各种参数，如寄生虫负荷、迟发型超敏反应（DTH）反应、T 细胞、Th1/Th2 细胞因子、组织学和生化测试。
HBV 表现出明显的抗利什曼原虫活性，可使细胞周期在亚 G0/G1 期停滞。与低剂量相比，高剂量的 HBV 更有效地降低脾脏中的寄生虫浓度。此外，该提取物增强了感染小鼠的 DTH 反应和 T 细胞反应。HBV 的口服给药导致抑制疾病进展的 Th2 细胞因子的增加和抑制疾病的 Th1 细胞因子的增加，且没有毒性。
因此，HBV 通过宿主产生促炎免疫显示出抗利什曼原虫的疗效，这进一步表明需要对其作为抗利什曼原虫治疗方法的机制进行探索。
