Abstract

Leishmaniasis is a group of parasitic diseases caused by various species of Leishmania. Cutaneous manifestations of the disease can cause protracted wounds, difficult to heal, thus it is important to discover novel compounds that can augment in wound healing. The aim of this study is to investigate antileishmanial activity of Medicago sativa extract. Parasites were treated with different concentrations of plant extract (5, 100, 250, 500 and 1000 μg/ml) for 24, 48, and 72 hours. The characterization was done by reversed phase-high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). The IC50 values were 566.62, 445.74, and 375.74 after 24, 48, and 72 hours incubation, respectively. The results showed that the survival of this parasite can be limited by increasing the incubation time and/or the extraction dosage. The analysis of extract showed that this extract includes phenolic and flavonoid compounds. The total phenolic value was more than total flavonoids compounds. The anti-Leishmania activity of M. sativa extract may be due to the high concentration of phenolic compounds, especially caffeic acid. From our results, it can be suggested that the M. sativa extract is a potential herbal drug against leishmaniasis. © 2020 Greek Society of Microbiology Ascent Ltd. All rights reserved.