Antileishmanial Activity of Date (Phoenix dactylifera L) Fruit and Pit Extracts In Vitro

Leishmaniasis is considered as a major public health problem worldwide. Current drugs in treatment of leishmaniasis have some limitations; thus, the current study was aimed to assess the methanolic extracts of pit and fruit of Phoenix dactylifera against Leishmania major promastigotes. L major promastigotes were cultured in RPMI 1640 and incubated at 25°C ± 1°C for 24, 48, and 72 hours. For obtaining the IC50 (half maximal inhibitory concentration) value, MTT assay was employed. Furthermore, promastigotes were examined in terms of morphology under light microscope. About 48 hours after treatment, IC50s were estimated 23 μg/mL and 500 mg/mL for methanolic extracts of pit and fruit of P dactylifera, respectively. Both extracts exhibited a dose and time-dependent antileishmanial activity against L major parasites. Also, some visible morphological changes were seen. This finding revealed both date fruit and pit, are effective against L major promastigotes. Further studies should be designed in future based on apoptosis induction in vitro and in vivo.