Protective Cellular Immune Response Induction for Cutaneous Leishmaniasis by a New Immunochemotherapy Schedule.

The palladacycle complex DPPE 1.2 was previously shown to inhibit Leishmania (Leishmania) amazonensis infection in vitro and in vivo. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of DPPE 1.2 associated with a recombinant cysteine proteinase, rLdccys1, and the adjuvant Propionibacterium acnes on L. (L.) amazonensis infection in two mouse strains, BALB/c, and C57BL/6. Treatment with this association potentiated the leishmanicidal effect of DPPE 1.2 resulting in a reduction of parasite load in both strains of mice which was higher compared to that found in groups treated with either DPPE 1.2 alone or associated with P. acnes or rLdccys1. The reduction of parasite load in both mice strains was followed by immunomodulation mediated by an increase of memory CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes, IFN-γ levels and reduction of active TGF-ß in treated animals. No infection relapse was observed 1 month after the end of treatment in mice which received DPPE 1.2 associated with rLdccys1 or rLdccys1 plus P. acnes in comparison to that exhibited by animals treated with DPPE 1.2 alone. Evaluation of serum levels of AST, ALT, urea, and creatinine showed no alterations among treated groups, indicating that this treatment schedule did not induce hepato or nephrotoxicity. These data indicate the potential use of this association as a therapeutic alternative for cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by L. (L) amazonensis.

Antioxidant activity of ethanolic extracts of Pothomorphe umbellata L. Miq. (Pariparoba)

Oxidative stress has been implicated in many pathological conditions such as cancer, aging inflammation and cell death. The Brazilian flora is particularly rich in medicinal plants employed for many purposes. Among them the Piperaceae family and specially the "pariparobas" are widely used in the treatment of liver diseases. In vitro antioxidant activity of Pothomorphe umbellata L. Miq. was evaluated and compared with that of Piper regnellii, another plant from the Piperaceae family commonly used as it were P. umbellata. A purified fraction of the ethanolic extract of P. umbellata, containing 4-nerolidylcatechol was also assayed for antioxidant activity and compared with that of alpha-tocopherol. Rat brain homogenates were incubated with increasing aliquots of crude extracts of different parts of the plants or 4-nerolidylcatechol/alpha-tocopherol for 1 h at 37 degrees Celsius. Both malondialdehyde (MDA) and chemiluminescence (CL) were assayed to evaluate brain tissue autoxidation. The Q1/2 for MDA assay for root, stem and leaves were 4.4, 19.3 and 38.5 mug/mL for P. umbellata and 26.0,64.4 and 13.3 mug/mL for P regnellii, respectively. Calculated MDA and CL Q1/2 values for 4-nerolidylcatechol and alpha-tocopherol were O.75 and O.68 muM for 4-nerolidylcatechol and 14.4 and 1O.9 muM for alpha-tocopherol, respectively. These results indicate high antioxidant activity of P. umbellata root extract as compared to that of vitamin E, which was attributed to the presence of 4-nerolidylcatecho1.