Evaluation of Antileishmanial Activity of Albaha Medicinal Plants againstLeishmania amazonensis

Abstract

Sixteen methanolic extracts obtained from thirteen plant species, selected either from ethnobotanical or chemotaxonomical data, were screened for their antileishmanial activity againstLeishmania amazonensis. The cytotoxic activity against normal peritoneal macrophages from normal BALB/c mice was also determined. Eight extracts had IC50values ranging from <12.5 to 37.8 µg/mL against promastigotes.Achillea biebersteiniiflower,Euphorbia helioscopia,andSolanum incanumleaf extracts showed antileishmanial activities with IC50between <12.5–26.9 µg/mL and acceptable selectivity indices of 8–5. The other leishmanicidal plant extracts, with IC50ranging from 18.0 to 29.5 µg/mL, exhibited low selectivity indices.