Intracellular anti-leishmanial effect of Spergulin-A, a triterpenoid saponin of Glinus oppositifolius

Many of present chemotherapeutics are inadequate and also resistant against visceral leishmaniasis (VL), an immunosuppressive ailment caused by . Despite the interest in plant-based drug development, no antileishmanial drugs from plant source are currently available. had been reported in favor of being immune modulators along with other traditional uses. Novel anti-VL therapies can rely on host immune-modulation with associated leishmanicidal action. Discovery of novel plant-based antileishmanial compound from having permissible side effects. With this rationale, an n-BuOH fraction of the methanolic extract of were evaluated against acellular and intracellular . Immunostimulatory activity of them was confirmed by elevated TNF-α and extracellular NO production from treated MФs and was found nontoxic to the host cells. Identification and structure confirmation for isolated Spergulin-A was performed by ESI-MS, C, and H NMR. Spergulin-A was found ineffective against the acellular forms while, against the intracellular parasites at 30 μg/mL, the reduction was 92.6% after 72 hrs. Spergulin-A enhanced ROS and nitric oxide (NO) release and changes in Gp91-phox, i-NOS, and pro and anti-inflammatory cytokines elaborated its intracellular anti-leishmanial activity. The results supported that can potentiate new lead molecules for the development of alternative drugs against VL.