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Anti-leishmanial activity of Brazilian green, brown, and red algae

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Abstract

Leishmaniasis is a disease of public health significance, and the available therapy is unsatisfactory. Studies of marine algae as a source of pharmacologically active compounds have increased worldwide. This study evaluated the activity of algal crude extracts and a purified product against Leishmania amazonensis. Extracts from Caulerpa racemosa, Osmundaria obtusiloba, Stypopodium zonale, Dictyota ciliolata, and Dictyota menstrualis showed EC50/24 h activity with concentrations that ranged from 0.61 to 154.0 μg mL−1. The cytotoxicity of these extracts on macrophages showed CC50/24 h, with a concentration range of 18.2–240.0 μg mL−1. The selectivity index corresponds to values varying from 0.31 to 39.33 for these extracts. A mixture of diterpene isomers isolated from D. menstrualis showed interesting activity against L. amazonensis. In addition, the anti-leishmanial activity of the O. obtusiloba extract showed potential activity that was better than the effect obtained with pentamidine, a reference drug. The alcoholic extract of O. obtusiloba was selected for in vivo tests, and BALB/c mice were infected with L. amazonensis and treated with the O. obtusiloba extract orally for 4 weeks. The treatment showed the ability to control the dissemination of parasites to the draining lymph nodes as well the evolution of cutaneous lesions, indicating a potential therapeutic use of the alcoholic extract of O. obtusiloba. These results provide new perspectives on the development of drugs against leishmaniasis.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a CAPES Fellowship to RL, GB, AG, KO, and FOR and grants from CNPq, FAPERJ, and PROPPI/UFF. The authors are grateful to Roberto Villaça for seaweed collections. The authors are grateful to Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for financial support and VLT for Productivity Fellowships. VLT also thank the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ) for Cientista do Nosso Estado Fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências e Biotecnologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Centro, 24020-141, Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Marie-Luce Flores Lira, Raphaela Lopes, Gabrielle Barcellos, Kelvin Osako & Carlos José Brito Ramos

  2. Departamento de Imunobiologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Centro, 24020-141, Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Alex Portes Gomes, Maurício Verícimo & Veronica do Amaral

  3. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Marinha, Departamento de Biologia Marinha, Instituto de Biologia, PO Box 100.644, Centro, 24001-970, Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Fredy Augusto Ortiz-Ramirez

  4. Laboratório Algamar, Departamento de Biologia Marinha, Instituto de Biologia, PO Box 100.644, Centro, 24001-970, Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Diana N. Cavalcanti & Valéria Laneuville Teixeira

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  1. Marie-Luce Flores Lira
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  2. Raphaela Lopes
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  3. Alex Portes Gomes
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  4. Gabrielle Barcellos
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  5. Maurício Verícimo
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  7. Fredy Augusto Ortiz-Ramirez
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  11. Veronica do Amaral
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Correspondence to Valéria Laneuville Teixeira or Veronica do Amaral.

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Lira, ML.F., Lopes, R., Gomes, A.P. et al. Anti-leishmanial activity of Brazilian green, brown, and red algae. J Appl Phycol 28, 591–598 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-015-0538-0

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