Antileishmanial Activity of Essential Oils

Abstract

Essential oils are chemical substances composed mainly of terpenes and terpenoids. These compounds are widely investigated due to their lipophilic characteristics and biological and pharmacological properties. Therefore, the objective of this review was to investigate the potential of essential oils against species of the genus Leishmania, parasites causing the infectious disease leishmaniasis. Using the descriptors “Essential oil AND Leishmania” information available in the Scopus© database was collected. 114 articles met the inclusion criteria and were selected for analysis in this study. Among the tests performed, most were of the in vitro type (97.4%) and L. amazonensis (47.4%) and L. infantum (28.9%) were the species most used in these studies. Among the studies that investigated the mechanism of action, the essential oil of the species Tetradenia riparia showed the best result of IC50 (0.03µg/mL) against L. amazonensis isolates. Several works attribute the anti-Leishmania activities of essential oils with different bioactivities, such as: morphological and immunological alterations, antioxidant capacity and enzymatic action. Finally, it is concluded that essential oils have great potential for the development of new drugs against leishmaniasis, however further research is needed through in vivo tests to elucidate the mechanisms of action of such compounds.