title: Antileishmanial activity of medicinal plants used in endemic areas in northeastern Brazil.
abstract: This study investigates the leishmanicidal activity of five species of plants used in folk medicine in endemic areas of the state of Alagoas, Brazil. Data were collected in the cities of Colonia Leopoldina, Novo Lino, and União dos Palmares, Alagoas state, from patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis (Leishmania amazonensis) who use medicinal plants to treat this disease. Plants extracts were tested at a concentration of 1-100 μg/mL in all experiments, except in an assay to evaluate activity against amastigotes, when 10 μg/mL was used. All plants extracts did not show deleterious activity to the host cell evidenced by LDH assay at 100, 10, and 1 μg/mL after 48 h of incubation. The plants extracts Hyptis pectinata (L.) Poit, Aloe vera L., Ruta graveolens L., Pfaffia glomerata (Spreng.) Pedersen, and Chenopodium ambrosioides L. exhibited direct activity against extracellular forms at 100 μg/mL; these extracts inhibited growth by 81.9%, 82.9%, 74.4%, 88.7%, and 87.4%, respectively, when compared with promastigotes. The plants extracts H. pectinata, A. vera, and R. graveolens also significantly diminished the number of amastigotes at 10 μg/mL, inhibiting growth by 85.0%, 40.4%, 94.2%, and 97.4%, respectively, when compared with control. Based on these data, we conclude that the five plants exhibited considerable leishmanicidal activity.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Farmacologia e Imunidade (LaFI), Instituto de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, 57072-970 Maceió, AL, Brazil.
authors.forename: Aline Cavalcanti
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: De Queiroz
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Farmacologia e Imunidade (LaFI), Instituto de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, 57072-970 Maceió, AL, Brazil.
authors.forename: Thays de Lima Matos Freire
authors.initials: Tde L
authors.lastname: Dias
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Farmacologia e Imunidade (LaFI), Instituto de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, 57072-970 Maceió, AL, Brazil.
authors.forename: Carolina Barbosa Brito
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Da Matta
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Farmacologia e Imunidade (LaFI), Instituto de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, 57072-970 Maceió, AL, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luiz Henrique Agra
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Cavalcante Silva
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Pesquisa em Recursos Naturais, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Maceió, AL, Brazil.
authors.forename: João Xavier
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: de Araújo-Júnior
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Plantas Tropicais (LPT), PPG-Dibict, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Maceió, AL, Brazil.
authors.forename: Givanildo Bernardino
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: de Araújo
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Plantas Tropicais (LPT), PPG-Dibict, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Maceió, AL, Brazil.
authors.forename: Flávia de Barros Prado
authors.initials: Fde B
authors.lastname: Moura
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Farmacologia e Imunidade (LaFI), Instituto de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, 57072-970 Maceió, AL, Brazil.
authors.forename: Magna Suzana
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Alexandre-Moreira