Abstract

RIOS R, Yesmit Karina et al. In vitro leishmanicidal and cytotoxic activities of Matricaria chamomilla essential oil. Rev. colomb. cienc. quim. farm. [online]. 2008, vol.37, n.2, pp.200-211. ISSN 0034-7418.

This study describes the evaluation of cytotoxic and leishmanicidal activities for Matricaria chamomilla essential oil. M. chamomilla is a plant commonly named "manzanilla" that has many uses in traditional medicine. The activity of essential oil was evaluated in vitro against axenic amastigotes of L. (V) braziliensis at concentrations lower than or equal to 250µg/ml and intracellular amastigotes of L. (V) braziliensis and L. (V) panamensis at concentrations lower than or equal to 30µg/ml. On other hand, the cytotoxic activity was assessed against mammalian cells of the promonocytic human cell line U937 at concentrations below 1.0mg/ml. The essential oil of M. chamomilla showed activity against intracellular amastigotes of L. (V) panamensis and L. (V) braziliensis (EC₅₀ of 2.87 and 10.30µg/ml, respectively). Although the essential oil of M. chamomilla also shown to be potentially toxic to mammalian cellsLC₅₀ ( of 30.21µg ml) this toxicity was similar to that shown by Amphotericin B (LC₅₀ of 31.39µg/ml). This essential oil showed no activity against axenic forms of L. (V) braziliensis suggesting the importance of the compound metabolism inside cells to produce the metabolite that would be active against parasites. These results suggest that the essential oil of M. chamomilla has potential for development of drugs anti- Leishmania that must be validated in future studies in vivo using animal models.

Keywords : Matricaria chamomilla; leishmanicidal activity; citotoxicity; chamomile; natural products; L. (V) panamensis; L. (V) braziliensis.

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