Tariku Y., Hymete A., Hailu A., Rohloff J.
Department of Chemistry, College of Natural Science, Jimma University, P.O. Box 378, Jimma, Ethiopia; Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Department of Immunology, Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 9086, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Plant Biocentre, Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), N-7491 Trondheim, Norway
Tariku, Y., Department of Chemistry, College of Natural Science, Jimma University, P.O. Box 378, Jimma, Ethiopia; Hymete, A., Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Hailu, A., Department of Immunology, Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 9086, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Rohloff, J., Plant Biocentre, Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), N-7491 Trondheim, Norway
Potential toxicity, costs, and drug-resistant pathogens necessitate the development of new antileishmanial agents. Medicinal and aromatic plants constitute a major source of natural organic compounds. In this study, essential oils of Artemisia absinthium L. and Echinops kebericho Mesfin were investigated by GC and GC/MS analyses. Isolated oils were screened for antileishmanial activity against two Leishmania strains (L. aethiopica and L. donovani), and toxicity on the human monocytic leukemia (THP-1) cell line and red blood cells in vitro. GC/MS Analysis revealed 65 compounds (93.74%) for Artemisia absinthium and 43 compounds (92.85%) for Echinops kebericho oil. The oils contained the oxygenated monoterpene camphor (27.40%) and the sesquiterpene lactone dehydrocostus lactone (41.83%) as major constituents, respectively. Both oils showed activity against promastigote (MIC 0.0097-0.1565 μl/ml) and axenic amastigote forms (EC50 0.24-42.00 nl/ml) of both leishmania species. Weak hemolytic effect was observed for both oils, showing a slightly decreased selectivity index (SI 0.8-19.2) against the THP-1 cell line. Among the two oils tested, E. kebericho exerted strong antileishmanial activity that was even higher than that of amphotericin B with significant cytotoxicity. This study, therefore, demonstrated the potential use of both oils as source of novel agents for the treatment of leishmaniasis. Copyright © 2011 Verlag Helvetica Chimica Acta AG, Zürich.
antileishmanial agent; Artemisia absinthium extract; camphor; Echinops kebericho extract; essential oil; sesquiterpene lactone derivative; terpene derivative; unclassified drug; antiprotozoal activity; Artemisia absinthium; article; Asteraceae; cytotoxicity; Echinops kebericho; erythrocyte; hemolysis; human; human cell; in vitro study; Leishmania donovani; mass fragmentography; monocytic leukemia; nonhuman; promastigote; Antiprotozoal Agents; Artemisia absinthium; Cell Line; Cell Survival; Echinops Plant; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Hemolysis; Humans; Leishmania; Leishmaniasis; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Oils, Volatile; Artemisia absinthium; Dryobalanops; Leishmania aethiopica; Leishmania donovani