Leishmania parasites are the causative agent of leishmaniasis. Many studies are inspecting chemical drugs, including the use of miltefosine and amphotericin B, but curative values may be limited for these drugs with side effects due to the chemical origin, therefore, investigating less toxic therapies is essential. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of artemisinin on Iraqi strain of Leishmania tropica, by experimental macrophage ex vivo infection of amastigotes into mouse macrophage cell-line RAW264.7. Different concentrations (100, 200, 300, 400, 500)μM of artemisinin (ART) were screened to examine the susceptibility of L. tropica amastigotes to invade macrophage cell line along three times of follow up (24, 48 and 72) hours. Results showed that artemisinin had a cytotoxic effect on the parasite in which a significance difference (P < 0.05) in cell viability was observed and IC50 was calculated as 182.6 μM after 48 hours treatment. In addition, percentage of infectivity of intracellular amastigotes was significantly decreased. These findings revealed the potential efficacy of artemisinin against the infectious amastigotes and can be further studied to screen its effectiveness in vivo for exploring a safer herbal compound to treat cutaneous leishmaniasis.
Olive leaves extract is famous for its antioxidant and protective effects. In this study, the aqueous extract of Iraqi Olea europaea L. Leaves was investigated for its anti-diabetic effects against low double doses of alloxan induced Diabetes Mellitus in rats. Low double doses (75 mgKg body weight) of alloxan were injected intraperitoneally at day 1&29 of the experimental period in rats, whereas an aqueous extract of Iraqi Olea europaea L. Leaves was added continuously to their drinking water. Serum malondialdehyde concentration, total oxidative stress and oxidative stress index as oxidoreductive stress biomarker, activities of certain anti-oxidoreductive stress enzymes (glutathione peroxidase, super oxide dismutase and catalase) and concen
... Show MoreIn the current study, different concentrations of miltefosine drug, which is the first effective and safe oral treatment for visceral leishmaniasis, was evaluated against L. donovani promastigotes in comparison with pentosam drug. Direct counting microscopic assay was used to find 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) of miltefosine and pentostam against L. donovani promastigotes. The IC50 of miltefosine drug was 45.42μg/ml, 46.76μg/ml and 36.68μg/ml after 24 hr, 48hr and 72hr respectively, In comparison with IC 50 of pentostam drug was 75.39 μg/ml after 72hr. There were significant differences (P˂0.05) between IC50 values of miltefosine and pentostam drugs from first day to third day.
Solvent- free thermal heating, one-pot condensation of acetophenone, ethyl cyanoacetate or malononitrle and substituted Aromatic aldehyde, ammonium acetate give, 2oxo-3-cyano-4-substituted Aryl-6-phenyl pyridine [I]a-h , or 2-amino-3-cyano-4-substituted Aryl-6-phenyl pyridine derivatives[II]a-f , respectively. Treatment of compounds 2-oxo-3-cyano-4-substituted Aryl-6-phenyl pyridine with phosphorous penta sulphide (P2S5), give 2-thioxo-3-cyano-4-substituted Aryl-6-phenyl pyridine derivatives[III]a-c . All prepared compounds
... Show MoreBackground: L. sativum, are traditionally used for the treatment of various diseases and thought to have medicinal value. Isolates from many part of the world is now multidrug resistant. Therefore, there is an urgent need to look for and test an alternative herbal drug.
Objective: The present study aimed to evaluate the antibacterial activity of L. Sativum seed extract against multi drug resistant (MDR) and sensitive Pseudomonas aeruginosa clinical isolates.
Subjects and Methods: An ethanolic and aqueous stock extracts were prepared from L. sativum seed plant then serial dilutions were prepared and the obtained concentrations (50, 25, 12.5 and 6.2 mg/ml) were tested against 30 multidrug-resistan
... Show MoreAlthough several drugs are used against Leishmania infection but they are associated with several adverse complications. Therefore, a new effective treatment needed to be found. In this study, the effect of carbonnanotubes nanoparticles (CNTs NPs) on Leishmania donovani promastigotes was assessed. Viability of promastigotes after adding different concentrations of carbonnanotubes (CNTs) nanoparticles (0.05, 0.1, 5, 10, 20, 40, 60 and 80 μg/ml) to the parasite culture was evaluated by growth rate, viability rate assay and morphological changes. The results indicated that the effect of CNTs NPs on growth rate of promastigotes form. After exposed to 80 μg/ml of CNTs, the growth rate of promastigotes clearly decreased compared with promast
... Show MoreBackground: Manuka honey (MH) is a mono-floral honey derived from the Manuka tree (Leptospermum scoparium). MH is a highly recognized for its non-peroxide antibacterial activities, which are mostly related to its unique methylglyoxal content (MGO) in MH. The beneficial phytochemicals in MH is directly related to their favorable health effects, which include wound healing, anticancer, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties. Aims: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of MH on pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-8 and TNF-α) in patients with gingivitis and compare it with chlorhexidine (CHX) and distilled water (DW). Materials and Methods: This study was a randomized, double blinded, and parallel clinical trial. Forty-fiv
... Show MoreLeishmania causes disease ranging from self-healing cutaneous to fatal visceral leishmaniasis (VL). Leishmaniasis is reported endemic in 88 countries, including Iraq, in which 82% in low-income countries. The diseases develop following the bite of sand flies injecting Leishmania promastigotes into skin. Promastigotes transform into amastigotes in vivo multiplying within macrophages. In this study we have investigated the ability of axenic procyclic promastigotes of cutaneous Leishmania tropica and visceral Leishmania donovani survive in M199 media with or without Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS) added. Three time incubation periods were adopted (24, 48 and 72) hours and the results showed that L. tropica was able to survive and multiply in both
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