Effects of silver nanoparticle based on ginger extract on Leishmania infantum and Leishmania tropica parasites: in vitro .

Leishmania  is the primary cause of a significant public health problem known as leishmaniasis in Iran. Pentavalent antimonial chemicals are commonly used for the treatment of leishmaniasis. However, these drugs exhibit a number of adverse effects, including drug resistance, lack of specificity, poor responsiveness, toxic effects, inconvenient injections, tissue damage, and high cost. The present study aimed to prepare and evaluate the efficacy of green-synthesized silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) against  Leishmania infantum  and  Leishmania tropica   in vitro . The 2, 5-Diphenyl Tetrazolium Bromide (MTT) assay was used to assess the toxicity of Ag-NPs derived from ginger extract on macrophage cells. The apoptotic potential of promastigotes caused by Ag-NPs was evaluated using the flow cytometry method. According to our findings, the proliferation of  L. infantum  and  L. tropica , promastigotes are significantly decreased by increasing doses of NPs. The most effective doses of nanoparticle were 80 and 40 ppm after 48 and 72 hours of incubation, respectively, while doses of 0.312 and 0.156 ppm after 24 and 48 hours of incubation had the least effect on the growth and activity of  L. infantum  and  L. tropica  promastigotes. For the promastigotes of  L. infantum  and  L. tropica , the flow cytometry test revealed that Ag-NPs-induced programmed cell death in promastigotes of  L. infantum  and  L. tropica  demonstrated 67.1% and 41.9% of apoptosis, respectively. The half-maximal inhibitory concentration for NPs against  L. infantum  and  L. tropica  were 4.54 and 4.22 ppm, respectively, based on the MTT assay. The higher concentrations of NPs (e.g., 80 ppm) led to more lethality of promastigote. In conclusion, Ag-NPs exhibited good  in vitro  anti-leishmanial activity against  L. infantum  and  L. tropica  promastigotes.
Competing Interests: The authors do not have any conflict of interest.