Acyclic Sesquiterpenes from the Fruit Pericarp of Sapindus saponaria Induce Ultrastructural Alterations and Cell Death in Leishmania amazonensis.

Acyclic Sesquiterpenes from the Fruit Pericarp of Sapindus saponaria Induce Ultrastructural Alterations and Cell Death in Leishmania amazonensis. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2017;2017:5620693 Authors: Moreira AL, Scariot DB, Pelegrini BL, Pessini GL, Ueda-Nakamura T, Nakamura CV, Ferreira ICP Abstract Previous studies reported antiprotozoal activities of Sapindus saponaria L. The aim of this work was the evaluation of antileishmanial activity and mechanism of action of extract and fractions of S. saponaria L. Hydroethanolic extract (EHA) obtained from fruit pericarps was fractionated using solid-phase extraction in a reversed phase, resulting in fractions enriched with saponins (SAP fraction) and acyclic sesquiterpene oligoglycosides (OGSA fraction). The activities of EHA, SAP, and OGSA were evaluated by antiproliferative assays with promastigote and intracellular amastigote forms. Cytotoxicity on macrophages and hemolytic activity were also analyzed. Morphological and ultrastructural changes in Leishmania amazonensis promastigotes were evaluated by electron microscopy. Flow cytometry was used to investigate mitochondrial dysfunction and phosphatidylserine exposure. OGSA was more selective for parasites than mammalian J774A1 macrophage cells, with selectivity indices of 3.79 and 7.35, respectively. Our results showed that only the OGSA fraction did not present hemolytic activity at its IC50 for promastigote growth. Electron m...
Source: Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine - Category: Complementary Medicine Tags: Evid Based Complement Alternat Med Source Type: research