IN VITRO INHIBITORY ACTIVITY OF BERBERIS VULGARIS L. AGAINST LEISHMANIA TROPICA PROMASTIGOTES

Objective: In the present study it was aimed to determine the in vitro antileishmanial activity of Berberis vulgaris L. against Leishmania tropica promastigotes. The aerial parts of Berberis vulgaris were collected from Spil Mountain, Manisa. Method: The ethanolic extract of the plant material was prepared. The consecutive concentrations of the plant extract (25-100µg/ml) were set for in vitro antileishmanial assays. In addition to in vitro inhibitory activities against Leishmania tropica promastigotes, the cytotoxicity of the plant extract was also measured by WST-1 Cell proliferation assay. The percentages of parasite inhibition in the presence of B. vulgaris ethanol extract in comparison with glucantime reference group at time interval of 12-72 hours were observed between 88.0 and 100.0 %. The plant extract was found to have cytotoxic activity with 444, 81±2, 12 µg/ml IC50 value. Conclusion: This is the first study that involves the in vitro antileishmanial activity of B. vulgaris which is wildly growing in Manisa, Turkey. Initial results demonstrated that the ethanolic extract of B. vulgaris gave promising results and it could be used as an antileishmanial agent in future. Peer Review History: Received 25 June 2019; Revised 5 August; Accepted 1 September, Available online 15 September 2019 Academic Editor: Dr. Amany Mohamed Alboghdadly, Princess Nourah bint abdulrahman university, Riyadh, amalbgadley@pnu.edu.sa Received file: Reviewer's Comments: Average Peer review marks at initial stage: 6.5/10 Average Peer review marks at publication stage: 9.5/10 Reviewer(s) detail: Dr. Gehan Fawzy Abdel Raoof Kandeel, Pharmacognosy Department, National Research Centre, Dokki, 12622, Giza, Egypt, gehankandeel9@yahoo.com Dr. George Zhu, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, sansan4240732@163.com Similar Articles: PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING AND IN VITRO ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTI-DIABETIC POTENTIALS OF PERSEA AMERICANA MILL. (LAURACEAE) FRUIT EXTRAC