Antileishmanial drugs used in the treatment of leishmaniasis
are toxic and expensive. Moreover, parasites have recently developed resistance
against them. Hence there is an increasing need for developing new
antileishmanial medicines. Quercetin, found in the roots, leaves and fruits of
many plants, is a natural polyphenolic flavonoid. Quercetin has antibacterial,
antiviral, anti-carcinogenic, and antioxidant properties. On the other hand,
because of its weak solubility in water, quercetin has had limited use on
humans. To increase its bio-availability and maximize its therapeutic effects,
quercetin has recently been encapsulated with nanoparticulate carrier systems.
The aim of this study is to encapsulate quercetin in bio-degradable,
bio-compatible poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) nanoparticles, to characterize the
synthesized nanoparticles and to analyze their in vitro antileishmanial
efficacy on L.infantum parasites. Quercetin-loaded PCL nanoparticles (QPNPs)
were synthesized using oil-in-water single emulsion solvent evaporation method.
Their characterization was done using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and
dynamic light scattering (DLS) equipments. Encapsulation effectiveness and release
profiles of QPNPs are calculated with UV-Vis spectrophotometry. The
antileishmanial effectiveness of the synthesized nanoparticles was analyzed in
L.infantum promastigote culture and amastigote-macrophage culture. The results
indicated that QPNPs had an average size of 380 nm, a zeta potential of -6.56
mV, and a PDI value of 0.21. The measurements showed the quercetin-loaded
nanoparticles to have an encapsulation effectiveness of 64% and a reaction
efficiency of 55%. After an incubation of 192 hours, nanoparticles were seen to
release 58% of their quercetin content. The synthesized QPNPs had IC50 values
on L.infantum promastigotes and amastigotes of 86 and 144 µg/mL respectively.
This means that QPNPs have reduced the vitality of promastigotes about 20 times
and of amastigotes about 5 times as compared to the control group. These
results demonstrate the strong antileishmanial potentials of QPNPs. It is
believed that if these positive findings are supported by further in vivo
studies, QPNPs may be used in the treatment of leishmaniasis.
Primary Language | English |
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Subjects | Chemical Engineering |
Journal Section | Articles |
Authors | |
Publication Date | September 1, 2018 |
Submission Date | April 23, 2018 |
Acceptance Date | September 5, 2018 |
Published in Issue | Year 2018 Volume: 5 Issue: 3 |