title: Activity of Brazilian and Bulgarian propolis against different species of Leishmania.
abstract: Extracts of propolis samples collected in Brazil and Bulgaria were assayed against four Leishmania species--Leishmania amazonensis, L. braziliensis, L. chagasi from the New World, and L. major from the Old World--associated to different clinical forms of leishmaniasis. The composition of the extracts has been previously characterized by high temperature high resolution gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. Considering the chemical differences among the extracts and the behavior of the parasites, it was observed significant differences in the leishmanicidal activities with IC50/1 day values in the range of 2.8 to 229.3 microg/ml . An overall analysis showed that for all the species evaluated, Bulgarian extracts were more active than the ethanol Brazilian extract. As the assayed propolis extracts have their chemical composition determined it merits further investigation the effect of individual components or their combinations on each Leishmania species.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Bioquímica de Tripanosomatídeos, Departamento de Imunologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz-Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
authors.forename: Gérzia Maria de Carvalho
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Machado
authors.forename: Leonor Laura
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Leon
authors.forename: Solange Lisboa
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: De Castro
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D007891:Leishmania / Q000187:drug effects*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D021261:Parasitic Sensitivity Tests; D011429:Propolis / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents; D011429:Propolis