Medical Parasitology and Zoology

Biography

Biography: Dr.Elena Dotsika

Abstract

Up today, no vaccine exists against any form of leishmaniasis; not safe, effective and inexpensive drugs. Until recently, a plethora of data showed that the existing anti-leishmanial drugs have numerous disadvantages such as systemic toxicity, development of resistance, long hospitalization and high cost. Thus, identifying new, effective and safer anti-leishmanial drugs is of paramount importance. To this end, much research effort has been focused on investigating new compounds derived from low-cost sources, such as natural products, for treating leishmaniasis. Oleuropein, which derives from numerous plants, particularly from the olive tree, Olea europaea L. (Oleaceae), is a biophenol with many biological activities. Our studies revealed that oleuropein exhibits in vitro inhibitory effect in both promastigotes and amastigotes of various Leishmania spp. Furthermore, when tested in vivo in an experimental visceral leishmaniasis model of L. donovani infected BALB/c mice, it was capable of reducing the parasitic burden. The exact mechanism that oleuropein uses in order to abrogate parasitic multiplication in vitro and in vivo has been investigated and the mode of oleuropein-driven cell death showed that is able to promote a ROS-independent cell death in promastigotes which is documented by typical features of apoptotic-like cell death. Moreover, the ability of oleuropein to promote a Th1 type immune response in L. donovani-infected BALB/c mice, points towards the candidacy of this bioactive compound as an immunomodulatory agent that may complement Leishmania therapeutic approaches.