Therapeutic effect of Prosopis strombulifera (LAM) BENTH aqueous extract on a murine model of cutaneous leishmaniasis

Esteban Sebastián Lozano; María José Germanó; Mariana Elizabeth Troncoso; María Fernanda García Bustos; Carlos Gamarra Luques; Diego Esteban Cargnelutti

doi:10.1016/j.jtcme.2021.08.009

Therapeutic effect of Prosopis strombulifera (LAM) BENTH aqueous extract on a murine model of cutaneous leishmaniasis

J Tradit Complement Med. 2021 Aug 16;12(3):281-286. doi: 10.1016/j.jtcme.2021.08.009. eCollection 2022 May.

Authors

Esteban Sebastián Lozano^{1

2}, María José Germanó¹, Mariana Elizabeth Troncoso^{1

3

4}, María Fernanda García Bustos⁵, Carlos Gamarra Luques^{1

2}, Diego Esteban Cargnelutti^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Instituto de Medicina y Biología Experimental de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina.
² Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Mendoza, Argentina.
³ Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Mendoza, Argentina.
⁴ Universidad de Mendoza, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Mendoza, Argentina.
⁵ Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Instituto de Patología Experimental, Salta, Argentina.

Abstract

Background and aim: Prosopis strombulifera (Lam.) Benth is a rhizomatous shrub native from different zones of Argentine Republic. P. strombulifera aqueous extract (PsAE) has different effects and several biological activities have been reported. The goal of this study was to analyze the activity of PsAE on a murine model of cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania amazonensis.

Experimental procedure: PsAE was orally administered at 150 mg/animal/day on BALB/c mice infected in the right footpad (RFP) with 1 × 10⁵ promastigotes of L. amazonensis. As a chemotherapeutic control of treatment, animals receive a commercial form of meglumine antimoniate (MA) (Glucantime®, Aventis, Paris, France).

Results and conclusion: We observe that the size of RFP lesions of infected mice without treatment showed a grade of inflammation, ulceration and necrosis at the site of infection much greater than that observed with PsAE or MA treatment. Moreover, PsAE was capable of decreasing parasite burden and splenic index. Furthermore, PsAE treated mice showed a significant decrease in O.D. of total anti-Leishmania IgG antibody responses against L. amazonensis. This decrease was similar to those observed when the reference drug, MA, was used. This would indicate that PsAE treatment inhibits or delays disease progression in mice. In conclusion, our findings suggest that PsAE could be a potential candidate to be used, as a new therapeutic strategy, to treat cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by L. amazonensis.

Keywords: BSA, bovine serum albumin; Drug resistance; EGF, endothelial growth factor; ELISA, enzyme linked immunosorbent assay; FBS, fetal bovine serum; Herbal medicine; Infectious disease; In vivo model; Leishmania amazonensis; Leishmaniasis; MA, meglumine antimoniate; MTT, thiazolyl blue tetrazolium bromide; Natural extract treatment; Neglected tropical disease; PBS, phosphate buffered saline; PsAE, Prosopis strombulifera aqueous extract; RFP, right footpad; TLA, total L. amazonensis antigen; Treatment with natural extracts.