Antileishmanial Activity of Carum Copticum Essential Oil Against Leishmania Major [MRHO/IR/75/ER]: An In Vitro Study

Background and Aims: Because of the toxicity and side-effects of synthetic drugs, there is a growing interest in biomedical plants. The aim of this study was to evaluate in vitro antileishmanial activity of Carum copticum essential oil against Leishmania (L) major. Materials and Methods: Nineteen experimental groups were designed to determine the effect of Carum copticum essential oil against L. major and compare it with Meglumine antimonite. Group 1 was the control group and included 200 µl of RPMI 1640 plus 2×105 cells/ml promastigotes. Groups 2-10 included the aforementioned substances plus 10 µl of 0.01, 0.02, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2 and 3 µg/ml of Carum copticum essential oil respectively. Groups 11-19 were similar to groups 2-10 but Meglumine antimonite (0.01, 0.02, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2 and 3 µg/ml) was used instead of Carum copticum essential oil. All the experiments were repeated five times. After 8 hours, the antileishmanial activities of studied substances were determined. Results: Up to concentration of 0.5 µg/ml, no effect was observed with both substances. In comparison to control group, at 1 and 2 µg/ml, Meglumine antimonite had no effect on Leishmaniasis (p>0.05) while Carum copticum essential oil significantly decreased Leishmaniasis viability (p<0.05). Moreover, at 3 µg/ml, both compounds significantly decreased Leishmaniasis viability (p<0.05). However, Carum copticum essential oil had substantially better Antileishmanial activity than the other.   Conclusions: These results suggest that comparable concentrations, in vitro antileishmanial activity of Carum copticum essential oil is better than Meglumine antimonite.