Antileishmanial Compounds from <i>Moringa oleifera</i> Lam.

¹Department of Natural Products, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Sector 67, S. A. S. Nagar, Punjab 160062, India. Fax: +91-172-2214692. E-mail: ipsingh@niper.ac.in or ipsingh67@yahoo.com

The antileishmanial activity of extracts and phytoconstituents of Moringa oleifera Lam. was investigated in vitro against promastigotes of Leishmania donavani. The 70 % ethanolic extract of roots and the methanolic extract of leaves showed moderate inhibitory activity with IC₅₀ values of 83.0 μg/ml and 47.5 μg/ml, respectively. Antileishmanial activity of the methanolic extract of leaves increased upon fractionation, as its ethyl acetate fraction was found to be more active with an IC₅₀ value of 27.5 μg/ml. The most active antileishmanial compound niazinin, a thiocarbamate glycoside isolated from this fraction, showed an IC₅₀ value of 5.25 μm. Results presented in this study indicate that extracts from M. oleifera may be developed as an adjuvant therapy for the treatment of leishmaniasis.