Experimental therapeutic assays of Tephrosia vogelii against Leishmania major infection in murine model: in vitro and in vivo

Background Conventional targeted leishmanicidal chemotherapy has persistently remained prohibitive for most economically deprived communities due to costs, associated time to accessing health services and duration for successful treatment programme. Alternatives are bound to be incorporated in rational management of leishmaniasis by choice or default due to accessibility and cultural beliefs. Therefore, there is need to rigorously investigate and appraise the activity of medicinal compounds that may have anti-leishmanicidal activity especially in the context of products that are already being utilized by the populations for other ailments but have limited information on their therapeutic value and possible cytoxicity. Hence, the study examined both in vivo and in vitro response of L. major infection to Tephrosia vogelii extracts in BALB/c mice as the mouse model. Methods A comparative study design was applied for the in vivo and in vitro assays of the extract with Pentostam (GlaxoSmithKline, UK) and Amphotericin B [Fungizone™, X-Gen Pharmaceuticals (US)] as standard drugs. Results In BALB/c mice where the chemotherapeutic extract was administered intraperitoneally, there was significantly (p