IN VITRO AND IN VIVO EVALUATION OF THERAPEUTIC EFFECTS OF VINCA MAJOR ALKALOIDS ON LEISHMANIA MAJOR

Leishmaniasis affects 1.5-2 million people annually and has been recognized as a major public health problem by the World Organization.In Iran the incidence rate of the disease among school children in Ardestan province was 3.2 per thousand. As no effective vaccine has been found yet, control of the disease depends on effective drug therapy. The pentavalent anitmonials (pentostam and glucantime) are the current drugs of choice, but their use has been associated with side effects and a certain degree of toxicity. Furthermore, resistance towards these medications is not uncommon. For these reasons we studied the effectiveness of Vinca major alkaloids in treating Leishmania major infections both in vitro and invivo. Vinca has been used for centuries as a traditional remedy in the treatment of various diseases. The effectiveness of different concentrations of Vinca on Leishmania major promastigotes was evaluated and the results showed a significant decrease in the number of promastigotes with higher concentrations and increasing exposure times (PO.005). Results of in vivo trials showed that intralesional injections of purified extracts in chlorofromic phase induced a significant decrease in the mean lesion diameter in Balb/c mice compared to the untreated group.