Determination of the in vivo activity of leaves extract of Zanthoxylum Chiloperone var. Angustifolium (Tembetary hú) orally and intralesionally administered to BALB/c mice experimentally infected with Leishmania

Natural products are becoming increasingly important as an unlimited source for obtaining chemical substances with possible pharmacological potential. Current existing drugs for the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniosis produce major side effects; therefore the search for new drugs is justified. The stem bark of Zanthoxylum Chiloperone var. Angustifolium Engl. (Rutaceae) is traditionally used in Paraguay for its antiparasitic properties. The leaf extract was evaluated for the first time to determine its leishmanicidal activity in BALB/c mice infected with amastigote forms of Leishmania amazonensis (PH8). The mice were treated orally with the extract at three concentrations (100, 50 and 10 mg/mL), intralesional (50 mg/mL), and subcutaneously using glucantime as a control (100 mg/mL). The percentage of decrease in parasite load was measured and with intralesional 50 mg/kg a reduction of 72% occurred, with the reference drug (Glucantime) a reduction of 62% was obtained with the same oral dose a reduction of 50%, while with an oral dose of 10 mg/mL the percentage of reduction was 55%. When the oral dose was increased to 100 mg/mL, the reduction percentage of the parasitic load was only 16%. These results indicated that the leaf extract of Z. chiloperone var. angustifolium Engl. at low oral concentrations (50 and 10 mg/mL) had very good activity against L. amazonensis, and it was even more efficacious intralesionally at 50 mg/mL but at the oral dose of 100 mg/kg has very reduced antiparasitic activity. This study showed the efficacy of the extract leaves of Z. chiloperone in reducing the parasite load in an in vivo test, so its use as a potential leishmanicidal could be suggested to develop and evaluate new drugs for the oral treatment of leishmaniosis disease with fewer side effects and lower cost.