Antileishmanial assessment of leaf extracts from Pluchea carolinensis, Pluchea odorata and Pluchea rosea.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the antileishmanial activity of different extracts from three Cuban Pluchea species.

METHODS

In in vitro assays the IC(50) was calculated in the promastigotes and amastigotes forms as cytotoxicity in murine macrophages. In leishmaniasis cutanea experiment, mortality, weight loss, lesion size and burden parasite were measured.

RESULTS

Extracts evaluated showed inhibitive effect on growing of promastigote form; however, active extracts caused a high toxicity. Ethanol and n-hexane extracts demonstrated specific antileishmanial activity. Ethanol and n-hexane extracts from Pluchea carolinensis (P. carolinensis) caused similar inhibition against amastigote form. The intraperitoneal administration of the ethanol extract of P. carolinensis at 100 mg/kg prevented lesion development compared with control groups.

CONCLUSIONS

The antileishmanial experiment suggests that ethanol extracts from P. carolinensis is the most promising. Further studies are still needed to evaluate the potential of this plant as a source of new antileishmanial agents.