The antileishmanial effects of Lowsonia inermis and Cedrus libani on Leishmania major promastigotes: an in vitro study.

Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease caused by different species of protozoan parasites belonging to the genus Leishmania. In this study, Leishmania major (MRHO/IR/75/ER) promastigotes were cultured at 23-25 °C in brain heart infusion (BHI) medium supplemented with 10 % heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum (FBS) and penicillin and streptomycin. Antileishmanial effects of Lowsonia inermis and Cedrus libani methanolic extracts (0.07, 0.15, 0.31, 0.62, 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10 mg/mL) on Leishmania major promastigotes were evaluated using the MTT (3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay. All experiments were repeated at least three times. Cedrus libani methanolic extract did not show any activity while Lowsonia inermis methanolic extract inhibited the growth of promastigote forms of L. major in vitro after 72 h of incubation and had a 50 % inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 1.25 mg/mL. The methanolic extract of Lawsonia inermis (henna) can be a promising antileishmanial agent in the future. Further experiments are needed for isolation of active fractions and identification of the active components of methanolic extract.

Utility of Western Blot Analysis for the Diagnosis of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis.

BACKGROUND: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a parasitic disease with a relatively wide distribution in different areas of the world, including Iran. The parasite is mainly diagnosed microscopically, but serological approaches might be useful for diagnosis as well. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of an immunoblotting system for serodiagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Iran. METHODS: Sixty-one sera samples from parasitologically confirmed CL patients and 50 sera samples from healthy controls along with 50 sera sample from non-CL patients were collected. Native strain of Leishmania major was cultured in Schneider medium and soluble Leishmania antigens were prepared from amastigotes-like parasites. All of sera samples were evaluated by an immunoblotting system. RESULTS: Components of 14 to 135 kDa were detectable by the sera of CL patients. From 61 sera of CL patients, 59 cases (96.7%) detected a 63 kDa subunit and 51 cases (83.6%) recognized a 32-35 kDa component. Among all subunits, the 63 kDa band showed the highest sensitivity (96.7%) and a 75 kDa band had the highest (98%) specificity. CONCLUSION: Immunoblotting has a satisfactory performance in diagnosis of CL and this test can be used, as an aid, for proper diagnosis of CL.

Performance of an ELISA and indirect immunofluorescence assay in serological diagnosis of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis in iran.

Serological assays have been extensively evaluated for diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and considered as a routine method for diagnosis of VL while these methods are not properly evaluated for diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). This study aimed to assess the performance of indirect immunofluorescent-antibody test (IFA) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for serodiagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Iran. Sixty-one sera samples from parasitologically confirmed CL patients and 50 sera from healthy controls along with 50 sera from non-CL patients were collected. Antigen was prepared from promastigotes and amastigotes of Leishmania major. IFA was used to detect anti-Leishmania IgG while ELISA was used to detect anti-Leishmania IgM, total IgG, or IgG subclasses (IgG1 and 4). ELISA, for detection of total IgG and IgM, showed sensitivity of 83.6% and 84.7% and specificity of 62.7% and 54.6%, respectively. Sensitivity and specificity of ELISA for detecting IgG1 and IgG4 were 64%, 75% and 85%, 49%, respectively. Sensitivity and specificity of IFA were 91.6% and 81%. Conclusion. Findings of this study demonstrated that serological test, especially IFA, can be used for proper diagnosis of CL.