Effect of hydroalcoholic extracts of Stachys lavandulifolia Vahl and Mespilus germanica leaves on Leishmania major

Introduction: Leishmania major is the undertaker organism for cutaneous leishmaniasis. The drugs used for the treatment of leishmaniasis have major side-effects or are not effective. S. Lavandulifolia and M. germanica leaves showed therapeatic effects, however there was no report on leishmanicidal character tics of these plants. The aim of the study was to assess the leishmanicidal activity of hydroalcohol extracts of S. Lavandulifolia and M. germanica leaves. Methods: Arial parts of S. Lavandulifolia and M. germanica leaves were collected from Chaharmahal and Bakhtiyari province and Shiraz city, and their hydroalcohol extracts were prepared. Leishmania major promastigotes were cultured in NNN culture medium. Leishmanicidal effects of these extracts in 50, 100, 250, 500, 1000 microgram per milliliter concentrations were evaluated by analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Tukey's test. Results: Results showed that significant difference was between the different concentrations (P<0.05). The mean difference between various groups of S. Lavandulifolia was significant between 1000 and 50 (μg/ml) groups (P<0.05), while in M. Germanica leaf, the mean difference in 50 (μg/ml) group (P<0.05) and 100 (μg/ml) group (P<0.05) had a significant difference with 1000 (μg/ml) group. There was no significant difference between other groups. Also, statistical analysis showed no significant difference between these extracts and have similarity antileishmanial effects. Conclusion: Our results demonstrated that hydroalcohol extracts of S. Lavandulifolia and M. Germanica leaves are suitable plants to be assessed for leishmanicidal activity. Therefore, isolation of effective compounds and determination of their structures is recommended.