title: The Effect of Vitis vinifera L. Leaves Extract on Leishmania infantum.
abstract: Vitis vinifera L.is a traditional Asian herb widely used for different health problems. In the present research, the ethanolic and the aqueous extracts of Vitis vinifera L. leaves collected from shrub, grown in Tunisia, were prepared and evaluated for the antileishmanial activity against Leishmani ainfantum promastigotes. The inhibitory concentration 50 (IC50) was determined and the results showed that the etahnolic extract is more active than the aqueous one (IC50= 0.108 mg/mL). Microscopic observations showed that the ethanolic extract promoted the destruction of cytoplasmic and nuclear membranes of Leishmani ainfantum promastigotes and altered the overall shape of the cell. In order to explain the difference of antileishmanial activity between ethanolic and aqueous extracts, anthocyanins amount was determined by spectrophotometry. It was found that the ethanolic extract is richer in anthocyanins than the aqueous one which can explain the higher antileishmanial activity of the ethanolic extract.
authors.affiliation: Unité of Recherche 12-04, Chimie Appliquée and Environnement, Faculté of Sciences of Monastir, Monastir 5000, Tunisie.
authors.forename: Rym
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mansour
authors.forename: Najoua
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Haouas
authors.forename: Amel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ben Kahla-Nakbi
authors.forename: Saoussen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hammami
authors.forename: Zine
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Mighri
authors.forename: Farouk
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mhenni
authors.forename: Hamouda
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Babba
keywords: Anthocyanins; Antileishmanial activity; Extraction; Leishmaniasis; Vitis vinifera L.