Antileishmanial activity of the essential oils ofMyrcia ovataCambess. andEremanthus erythropappus(DC) McLeisch leads to parasite mitochondrial damage

Leishmania amazonensisis a species causative of cutaneous and anergic diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis, treatment-resistant form, in the New World. Plants essential oils exhibit great potential as microbicide agents. We described the composition of the essential oils of two plants native from Brazil,Myrcia ovata, with geranial and neral as major constituents, andEremanthus erythropappus,with alpha-bisabolol.In vitroeffects of these essential oils onL. amazonensispromastigotes growth and ultrastructure were analysed as well as their cytotoxicity to murine macrophages. Both oils were highly active with IC50/96 h of 8.69 and 9.53 mu g/mL forM. ovataandE. erythropappusagainst promastigotes and caused ultrastructural alterations including mitochondrial enlargement. Cytotoxicity for murine macrophages varied with the oil concentrations. The IC(50)low values of bothM. ovataandE. erythropappusoils againstL. amazonensisand their relative low cytotoxicity to mammal host cells support their potential use against cutaneous leishmaniasis.

Automated summary

We studied the effects of two Brazilian plant essential oils on Leishmania amazonensis, finding them to be highly active against promastigotes with low cytotoxicity to mammalian host cells, supporting their potential use as a treatment for cutaneous leishmaniasis.