Assessment of the In Vitro antileishmanial and cytotoxic activity of Nectaroscordum tripedale fruit extract

Plant extracts have been demonstrated to present remarkable biological and pharmacological properties, so that they are proper candidates for lead drug development. This study evaluates the invitro cytotoxic and antileishmanial effects of Nectaroscordum tripedale fruit extract against Leishmania tropica. Antileishmanial effects of the methanol extract of N. tripedale (5, 10, 25, 50, 100 μg/ml) on promastigote forms as well as their cytotoxic activities against J774 cells were examined using MTT assay for 72 h. Moreover, the antileishmanial activity of N. tripedale against amastigote stages of L. tropica was assessed at the concentrations of 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 μg/ml in a macrophage model for 48 h. The obtained findings demonstrated that IC50 (50% inhibitory concentrations) value for the methanol extract was 61.6±3.05 μg/ml for promastigote forms and 32.6±2.15 μg/ml against amastigote forms. Regarding cytotoxic effects of N. tripedale extract, the findings demonstrated no significant cytotoxic effect in J774- A1 cells. According to the obtained results, N. tripedale might be a natural source of new anti-leishmanial agents in terms of use against cutaneous leishmaniasis. Keywords: Leishmania tropica; J774 cells; extract; promastigote; amastigote