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<div><p>Currently, no safe vaccine against leishmaniasis is available. So far, different control strategies against numerous reservoir hosts and biological vectors have not been environment-friendly and feasible. Hence, employing medicinal components and conventional drugs could be a promising approach to developing novel therapeutic alternatives. This study aimed to explore diallyl sulfide (DAS), a dynamic constituent of garlic, alone and in a mixture with meglumine antimoniate (MAT as standard drug) using <i>in vitro</i> and animal model experiments against <i>Leishmania major</i> stages. The binding affinity of DAS and four major defense elements of the immune system (iNOS, IFN-ɣ, IL-12, and TNF-α) was used to predict the predominant binding mode for molecular docking configurations. Herein, we conducted a broad range of experiments to monitor and assess DAS and MAT potential treatment outcomes. DAS, combined with MAT, displayed no cytotoxicity and employed a powerful anti-leishmanial activity, notably against the clinical stage. The function mechanism involved immunomodulation through the induction of Th1 cytokine phenotypes, triggering a high apoptotic profile, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and antioxidant enzymes. This combination significantly decreased cutaneous lesion diameter and parasite load in BALB/c mice. The histopathological findings performed the infiltration of inflammatory cells associated with T-lymphocytes, particularly CD4+ phenotypes, as determined by biochemical markers in alleviating the amastigote stage and improving the pathological changes in <i>L</i>. <i>major</i> infected BALB/c mice. Therefore, DAS and MAT deserve further advanced therapeutic development and should be considered as possible candidates for treating volunteer cases with cutaneous leishmaniasis in designing an upcoming clinical trial.</p></div>
Publication Details
- Journal
- Figshare
- Published
- 2024-08-30
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0307537.s001
- Primary Topic
- Research on Leishmaniasis Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00