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Screening of antileishmanial activity from marine sponge extracts collected off the Tunisian coast

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Abstract

The present study reports on the in vitro antileishmanial activity of two Ircinidae (Dictyoceratida, Demospongiae, Porifera) Ircinia spinosula and Sarcotragus sp. Sampled from the east coast of Tunisia. The ethyl acetate, dichloromethane, and aqueous extracts were tested against Leishmania major promastigotes. The anti-proliferative activity was checked using different extracts concentration during 72 h. We found that the IC50 (sub-inhibitory concentration) values ranged from 1.39 to 264.67 μg/ml. The most active extract was that from sarcotragus sp dichloromethane extract. Microscopic observations showed that the extracts promoted cellular alterations and induce enlargement of the nucleus and modification of the parasite shape. These promising results in relation with in vitro antileishmanial activity open the way for complementary investigation in order to purify and identify active molecules.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Biodiversité et Biotechnologie Marine, Institut National des Sciences et Technologies de la Mer (annexe Monastir), Annexe Monastir, BP 59 Monastir, 5000, Tunisia

    Amel Ben Kahla-Nakbi, Ali El Ouaer & Karim Ben Mustapha

  2. Unité de Recherche de Parasitologie-Mycologie Code 99-UR/08-05, Faculté de Pharmacie, Monastir, Tunisia

    Najoua Haouas & Hamouda Babba

  3. Laboratoire Aquaculture, Tunisia, Institut National des Sciences et Technologies de la Mer (annexe Monastir), Annexe Monastir, BP 59 Monastir, 5000, Tunisia

    Hamadi Guerbej

Authors
  1. Amel Ben Kahla-Nakbi
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  2. Najoua Haouas
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  3. Ali El Ouaer
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  4. Hamadi Guerbej
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  5. Karim Ben Mustapha
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  6. Hamouda Babba
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Correspondence to Amel Ben Kahla-Nakbi.

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Ben Kahla-Nakbi, A., Haouas, N., El Ouaer, A. et al. Screening of antileishmanial activity from marine sponge extracts collected off the Tunisian coast. Parasitol Res 106, 1281–1286 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-010-1818-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-010-1818-x

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