Abstract
An unprecedented increase in the incidence of unresponsiveness to antimonial compounds has highlighted the urgent need to develop new antileishmanial agents. The leaves of Piper betle (locally known as Paan) have long been in use in the Indian indigenous system of medicine for its antimicrobial properties but its antileishmanial potential has not been studied. Accordingly, an ethanolic extract of leaves of Piper betle (PB) was tested for its antileishmanial activity that was evidenced in both promastigotes and amastigotes, with IC50 values of 9.8 and 5.45 μg/ml, respectively; importantly, it was accompanied by a safety index of >12-fold. This leishmanicidal activity of PB was mediated via apoptosis as evidenced by morphological changes, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, in situ labeling of DNA fragments by terminal deoxyribonucleotidyltransferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick end labeling, and cell-cycle arrest at the sub-G0/G1 phase. Taken together, the data indicate that PB has promising antileishmanial activity that is mediated via programmed cell death and, accordingly, merits consideration and further investigation as a therapeutic option for the treatment of leishmaniasis.
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Acknowledgements
This work received financial assistance from the Life Sciences Research Board, Defense Research Development Organization, the University Grants Commission, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India. RS, SG, and GM are recipients of Senior Research fellowships from Lavanya Prova Bose Trust, University Grants Commission and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India, respectively.
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Sarkar, A., Sen, R., Saha, P. et al. An ethanolic extract of leaves of Piper betle (Paan) Linn mediates its antileishmanial activity via apoptosis. Parasitol Res 102, 1249–1255 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-008-0902-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-008-0902-y