Investigation on nitric oxide and C-reactive protein involvement in anti-leishmanial effects of artemisinin and glucantim on cutaneous leishmaniasis

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), a dermatological parasitic infection caused byLeishmania major and L .tropica. This disease is still one of the health problemsin the tropical and sub tropical parts of world, region and Iran. Although,artemisinin (qinghaosu) is widely used as anti-malarial agent, it is alsodemonstrated its anti-promastigote effects on some leishmania species.Inflammatory responses against leishmania consist of chemokines, immune cellsand mediators. This study investigates two immunological pathways includingnitric oxide (NO) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in L. major infected Balb/c micefollowing treatment with artemisinin and glucantim. Plasma was investigated forNO and CRP alterations using Griess Micro Assay (GMA) and Latex Agglutinations Test (LAT) respectively. The results indicated a significant declinein NO levels due to atemisinin treatment (P≤0.05) and in untreated group(P≤0.05). No changes in CRP were observed in experimental groups. It isindicated that L. major infection naturally decreased NO induction in Balb/c miceas a result of amastigote action; therefore artemisinin was not able to increase NOto combat parasite. It is concluded that artemisinin/glucantim action in CL wasnot associated with NO and CRP pathways; however more studies are needed toclarify other immunological parameters.