Research Article Antifungal, Antileishmanial, and Cytotoxicity Activities of Various Extracts of Berberis vulgaris (Berberidaceae) and Its Active Principle Berberine

Copyright © 2014 Hossein Mahmoudvand et al.This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in anymedium, provided the originalwork is properly cited. In this study, in vitro antidermatophytic activity against Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Trichophyton rubrum, Microsporum canis, and Microsporum gypseum was studied by disk diffusion test and assessment of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) using CLSI broth macrodilution method (M38-A2). Moreover, antileishmanial and cytotoxicity activity of B. vulgaris and berberine against promastigotes of Leishmania major and Leishmania tropica were evaluated by colorimetric MTT assay. The findings indicated that the various extracts of B. vulgaris particularly berberine showed high potential antidermatophytic against pathogenic dermatophytes tested with MIC values varying from 0.125 to>4mg/mL. The results revealed that B. vulgaris extracts as well as berberine were effective in inhibiting L. major and L. tropica promastigotes growth in a dose-dependent manner with IC 50 (50% inhibitory concentration) values varying from 2.1 to 26.