Antileishmanial potential of medicinal plant extracts from the North-West of Morocco

•The study evaluated the antileishmanial activity of four medicinal plants collected from the North-West of Morocco.•Medicinal plant extracts are rich in phenolic contents such as polyphenol and flavonoids.•n-Hexane extracts of Arbutus unedo and Cistus crispus showed remarkable antileishmanial activities.•Leishmania infantum was the most sensitive strain toward tested parasites. The aim of this study is to evaluate the antileishmanial activity of selected medicinal plants from the North-West of Morocco. Plant extracts were prepared by maceration using methanol, ethanol, and n-hexane. The antileishmanial activity was evaluated against Leishmania major, Leishmania tropica, and Leishmania infantum using MTT (3-(4.5-dimethylthiazol-2yl)-2.5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay. All plant extracts showed a reducing in cell promastigotes viability with variability depending on tested strains and type of extracts. The n-hexane extract showed the highest antileishmanial activity and L. infantum was the most sensitive parasite. The best growth inhibition was observed with Cistus crispus n-hexane extract against L. major (IC50=47.29±2.25μg/mL), Arbutus unedo n-hexane extract against L. infantum (IC50=64.05±1.44μg/mL) and Arbutus unedo n-hexane extract against L. tropica (IC50=79.57±2.66μg/mL). Considering these results, medicinal plants from the North-West of Morocco could constitute a promoter source for antileishmanial compounds.