Authors: Alemu Tadesse Feroche
Background: Leishmaniasis is a major public health problem, and the alarming spread of parasite resistance has increased the importance of discovering new therapeutic products. In the present study, the antileishmanial activity of the methanolic extract of the leaf latex obtained from the Ethiopian plant Vernonia brachycalyx O. H. (family Asteraceae) was evaluated by in vitro testing against Leishmania aethiopica and . Materials and Methods : Antileishmanial activity test was carried out using the Alamar Blue assay on promastigotes and axenic cultured amastigotes of and clinical isolates, and cell viability was fluorometrically determined. Amphotericin B was used as a positive control, and 1% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and the media were employed as a negative control. Moreover, preliminary phytochemical analysis of the extracts was performed. Results: Results of the study indicated that the latex possesses good activity against both parasites, with IC values of6.82 ± 0.18 and 6.34 ± 0.20?g/ml against promastigotes and 3.53 ± 0.33 and 2.61 ± 0.907?g/ml against axenically cultured amastigotes of and , respectively. The latex demonstrated selectivity indices (SIs) of 15.27 and 16.42 against promastigotes and 29.50 and 39.90 against axenically cultivated amastigotes of and While, amphotericin B demonstrated SIs of 7.91 and 8.23 against promastigotes and 7.45 and 7.73 against axenically cultured amastigotes of and , respectively. Phytochemical screening demonstrated that the latex contains flavonoids, tannins, cardiac glycosides, terpenoids, saponins, alkaloids, and steroids. Conclusion : The findings of this investigation attest that the latex of V. brachycalyx possesses promising antileishmanial activity against and , warranting further investigations into the active constituents. Keywords: Antileishmanial activity, in vitro, leishmania aethiopica, leishmania donovani, Vernonia brachycalyx
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