Student Research Committee, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
BMC Complement Med Ther. 2024 Jun 18;24(1):238. doi: 10.1186/s12906-024-04522-1.
The present study aimed to assess the anti-leishmanial effects of curcumin nanoemulsion (CUR-NE) against Leishmania major (MRHO/IR/75/ER) in both in vitro and in vivo experiments. CUR-NE was successfully prepared via the spontaneous emulsification method. The in vitro effect of various concentrations of CUR-NE against L. major promastigotes was assessed using the flow cytometry method. In vivo experiments were carried out in BALB/c mice inoculated subcutaneously with 2 × 10L. major promastigotes. Mice were treated with topical CUR-NE (2.5 mg/ml), intra-lesion injection of CUR-NE (2.5 mg/ml), topical CUR suspension (CUR-S, 2.5 mg/ml), topical NE without CUR (NE-no CUR), amphotericin B as the positive control group, and infected untreated mice as the negative control group. In vitro exposure of promastigotes to CUR-NE showed a dose-dependent anti-leishmanial effect, with a 67.52 ± 0.35% mortality rate at a concentration of 1250 µg/ml and an IC50 of 643.56 µg/ml. In vivo experiments showed that topical CUR-NE and CUR-S significantly decreased the mean lesion size in mice after four weeks from 4.73 ± 1.28 to 2.78 ± 1.28 mm and 4.45 ± 0.88 to 3.23 ± 0.59 mm, respectively (p = 0.001). Furthermore, CUR-NE significantly decreased the parasite load in treated mice compared with the negative control group (p = 0.001). Results from the current study demonstrated the promising activity of CUR-NE against L. major in both in vitro and in vivo experiments. Moreover, CUR-NE was more efficient than CUR-S in healing and reducing parasite burden in mouse models. Future studies should aim to identify molecular mechanisms as well as the pharmacologic and pharmacokinetic aspects of CUR-NE.
本研究旨在评估姜黄素纳米乳液（CUR-NE）对体外和体内实验中感染大沙鼠利什曼原虫（MRHO/IR/75/ER）的抗利什曼原虫作用。CUR-NE 是通过自发乳化法成功制备的。使用流式细胞术方法评估了不同浓度的 CUR-NE 对 L. major 前鞭毛体的体外作用。在皮下接种 2×10 L. major 前鞭毛体的 BALB/c 小鼠中进行体内实验。用局部 CUR-NE（2.5mg/ml）、病变内注射 CUR-NE（2.5mg/ml）、局部 CUR 悬浮液（CUR-S，2.5mg/ml）、无 CUR 的 NE（NE-no CUR）、两性霉素 B 作为阳性对照组，以及感染未治疗的小鼠作为阴性对照组进行治疗。体外暴露于 CUR-NE 的前鞭毛体显示出剂量依赖性的抗利什曼原虫作用，在浓度为 1250μg/ml 时死亡率为 67.52±0.35%，IC50 为 643.56μg/ml。体内实验表明，局部 CUR-NE 和 CUR-S 在四周后显著降低了小鼠的平均病变大小，分别从 4.73±1.28 降至 2.78±1.28mm 和 4.45±0.88 降至 3.23±0.59mm（p=0.001）。此外，与阴性对照组相比，CUR-NE 显著降低了治疗小鼠的寄生虫负荷（p=0.001）。本研究结果表明，CUR-NE 在体外和体内实验中对 L. major 具有有前途的活性。此外，CUR-NE 在治疗小鼠模型中的愈合和减少寄生虫负担方面比 CUR-S 更有效。未来的研究应旨在确定 CUR-NE 的分子机制以及药理学和药代动力学方面。
