Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
Ann Parasitol. 2022;68(1):71-76. doi: 10.17420/ap6801.410.
Leishmaniosis is an insect-borne disease whose clinical manifestations range from skin ulcer to visceral disease. Antimony compounds are currently known to be the main treatment for leishmaniosis, but there are limitations to their use. This study was performed to determine the in vitro and in vivo efficiency of honey on a standard strain of Leishmania major parasite in comparison with glucantime and amphotericin as the first line treatment. Leishmania major was exposed to different concentrations of honey extract at 400, 200, 100, 50, 25, 12.5, 6.25 μg/ml. The effectiveness of honey concentrations was determined by counting the parasite by Neubauer's chamber. Then, using the MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) colorimetric method, for promastigotes and macrophages then IC50 was calculated. A flow cytometry test was performed and necrosis and apoptosis diagrams were drawn. Next, the effect of the honey on the amastigotes inside macrophage cells was investigated. Finally, for the in vivo experimentation, the parasite was injected in the base of BALB/c mice tails and the resulting wounds were treated with honey. The results of all tests showed that the honey extract at 400 μg/ml concentration had the best effects on all stages. The honey has lethal effects on Leishmania parasite in vitro as well as therapeutic effects on wounds caused by the parasite. Further experiments are recommended to evaluate the performance of the extract on the parasite in volunteer human models.
利什曼病是一种由昆虫传播的疾病，其临床表现从皮肤溃疡到内脏疾病不等。目前已知锑化合物是治疗利什曼病的主要药物，但它们的使用存在局限性。本研究旨在确定蜂蜜对标准株利什曼原虫寄生虫的体外和体内效率，与葡萄糖胺和两性霉素作为一线治疗药物进行比较。利什曼原虫暴露于 400、200、100、50、25、12.5、6.25μg/ml 的不同浓度的蜂蜜提取物中。通过 Neubauer 室计数寄生虫来确定蜂蜜浓度的有效性。然后，使用 MTT（3-(4,5-二甲基噻唑-2-基)-2,5-二苯基四唑溴盐）比色法，对前鞭毛体和巨噬细胞进行检测，然后计算 IC50。进行流式细胞术试验并绘制坏死和凋亡图。接下来，研究了蜂蜜对巨噬细胞内的无鞭毛体的影响。最后，进行体内实验，将寄生虫注入 BALB/c 小鼠尾巴基部，并用蜂蜜处理伤口。所有测试的结果表明，浓度为 400μg/ml 的蜂蜜提取物对所有阶段都有最佳效果。蜂蜜对体外利什曼寄生虫具有致死作用，对寄生虫引起的伤口也具有治疗作用。建议进一步实验评估提取物在志愿者人体模型中对寄生虫的性能。
