Department of Biomedical Instrumentation, College of Applied Health Sciences, Qassim University, Ar Rass, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Biology, College of Science and Arts, Qassim University, Unaizah, Saudi Arabia.
Trop Biomed. 2021 Mar 1;38(1):135-141. doi: 10.47665/tb.38.1.023.
Leishmaniasis and toxoplasmosis are parasitic protozoal diseases that pose serious health concerns, especially for immunocompromised people. Leishmania major and Toxoplasma gondii are endemic in Saudi Arabia and are particularly common in the Qassim Region. The present work was conducted to evaluate the in vitro antileishmanial and antitoxoplasmal activity of methanolic extracts and phytochemical fractions from two plants, Euphorpia retusa and Pulicaria undulata, which are ethnobotanical agents used to treat parasitic infection. Whole E. retusa and P. undulata plants were extracted with methanol and fractionated using petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, n-butanol, and water and then were tested in vitro against L. major promastigote and the amastigote stages of T. gondii; the cytotoxicity of the extracts was tested against Vero cell line. The methanolic extracts of E. retusa and P. undulata exhibited promising antitoxoplasmal activity against T. gondii with EC values 5.6 and 12.7 μg mL, respectively. The chloroform fraction of P. undulata was the most potent, exhibiting an EC of 1.4 μg mL and SI value of 12.1. It was also the most active fraction against both L. major promastigotes and amastigotes, exhibiting an EC of 3.9 and 3.8 μg mL and SI values 4.4 and 4.5, respectively. The chloroform fraction from P. undulata is a very good candidate for the isolation of active antitoxoplasmal and antileishmanial ingredients; therefore, further phytochemical analysis for active compound isolation is highly recommended.
利什曼病和弓形体病是寄生虫原生动物病，对免疫功能低下的人构成严重的健康威胁。大沙鼠利什曼原虫和刚地弓形虫在沙特阿拉伯流行，在盖西姆地区尤为常见。本工作旨在评估两种植物——Euphorpia retusa 和 Pulicaria undulata 的甲醇提取物和植物化学部分的体外抗利什曼原虫和抗弓形体活性，这两种植物是用于治疗寄生虫感染的民族植物学药物。将整株 Euphorpia retusa 和 Pulicaria undulata 用甲醇提取，然后用石油醚、氯仿、乙酸乙酯、正丁醇和水进行分级，然后在体外对大沙鼠利什曼原虫前鞭毛体和刚地弓形虫无鞭毛体阶段进行测试；提取物对 Vero 细胞系的细胞毒性也进行了测试。Euphorpia retusa 和 Pulicaria undulata 的甲醇提取物对刚地弓形虫表现出有希望的抗弓形体活性，EC 值分别为 5.6 和 12.7μg/mL。Pulicaria undulata 的氯仿部分最有效，EC 值为 1.4μg/mL，SI 值为 12.1。它也是对大沙鼠利什曼原虫前鞭毛体和无鞭毛体最有效的部分，EC 值分别为 3.9 和 3.8μg/mL，SI 值分别为 4.4 和 4.5。Pulicaria undulata 的氯仿部分是分离有效抗弓形体和抗利什曼原虫成分的非常好的候选物；因此，强烈建议进一步进行植物化学分析以分离活性化合物。
