Effects of sheep and mouse urine on the growth pattern of Leishmania major promastigotes

Quantification of Nitric Oxide and Reactive Oxygen Species in Leishmania-infected J774A.1 Macrophages as a Response to the in vitro treatment with a Natural Product Compound

Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease caused by the obligatory intracellular protozoa Leishmania spp. Current therapeutic options are limited and thus, drug discovery against leishmaniasis is very important. Nevertheless, there is a great difficulty to develop therapeutic strategies against the disease because the parasite deploys various mechanisms to evade the immune system and multiply inside the host. Among the main factors of the immunity that are recruited to confront the Leishmania infection are the macrophages (MΦs) that produce effector molecules such as Nitric Oxide (NO) and Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). Therefore, efficient drug agents should combine the antileishmanial effect of these gaseous transmitters along with the enhancement of the host's adaptive immunity. In the quest of therapeutic alternatives, natural products have been extensively studied and are considered as candidate antileishmanial agents since they exhibit specific properties in modulating the host's immune response towards an effective anti-leishmanial cell-mediated immunity capable to eliminate parasitic dissemination. In the current protocol, Leishmania-infected MΦs (J774A.1 cell line) that have been treated with various increasing concentrations of a natural compound, are tested for the production of the aforementioned molecules. In order to detect NO production, we employ the Griess colorimetric nitrite assay and quantification relies on the construction of an accurate standard curve using appropriate standards of known concentration. ROS detection and quantification is achieved by flow cytometry and relies on the use of carboxy-H₂DCFDA, an indicator that converts to a fluorescent form when interacts with ROS molecules.

In vitro Screening of Antileishmanial Activity of Natural Product Compounds: Determination of IC50, CC50 and SI Values

Neglected tropical diseases gain the scientific interest of numerous research programs in an attempt to achieve their effective control or elimination. In this attempt, more cutting-edge public health policies and research are needed for the discovery of new, safer and effective drugs originated from natural products. Here, we describe protocols for the in vitro screening of a natural product-derived compound required for the determination of its antileishmanial potency. For this purpose, the Total Phenolic Fraction (TPF) derived from extra virgin olive oil is evaluated through the in vitro cell culture method against extracellular promastigote and intracellular amastigote Leishmania spp. forms. The aim of this article is to describe a step-by-step procedure that can be easily applied to accurately estimate the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀), the 50% cytotoxic concentration (CC₅₀) and the selectivity index (SI) via the resazurin reduction assay. These protocols are based on the ability of resazurin (oxidized blue form) to be irreversibly reduced by enzymes in viable cells and generate a red fluorescent resorufin product and can be easily expanded to the investigation of the antimicrobial activity in other microorganisms.

LB broth-lyophilized Rabbit serum (LLR) as a new and suitable culture medium for cultivation of promastigotes of Leishmania major

Fetal calf serum is the major part and the most expensive ingredient of the Leishmania culture media. Here, the efficacy of the LB broth-lyophilized Rabbit serum medium (LLR) was evaluated in cultivation of Leishmaniamajor. Conventional Luria-Bertani (LB) broth medium was prepared and autoclaved for 15 min at 121 °C and then lyophilized Rabbit serum was added at the 1, 2.5, 5 and 10 % final concentrations. The efficacy of medium was evaluated by assessing the growth ability and replication pattern of the promastigotes of L. major. According to our finding, the LLR medium with 5-10 % lyophilized Rabbit serum supported the growth of the parasites and can be used for cultivation of Leishmanian parasites with acceptable In vivo infectivity for research purpose. The ability of the parasites to survive and proliferating in the presence of lyophilized Rabbit serum indicating that this serum is a good nutritional source. This study opens a new way to make low-cost medium that could be used in cultivation of Leishmanian parasites.