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. 2021 Mar 10;11(3):689. doi: 10.3390/nano11030689

Table 1.

A list of in vitro studies of chitosan and its derivatives as resource for anti-leishmanial agents.

Type of Chitosan Combined with the Drug Year of Publication Parasite Form Leishmania spp. Concentration Time Outcome Ref.
AmB-loaded pluronic F127 (PF 127) micelles coated with chitosan (Cs-PF-AmB-M) Amphotericin B (AmpB) 2017 Promastigotes Leishmania donovani 0.03, 0.05,
0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8 µg/mL
72 h Experiments have shown that Cs-PF-AmB-M at a dose of 0.049 µg/mL may reduce parasitic load by 50%; whereas PF-AmB-M at a dose of 0.08 µg/mL reduced parasitic load by 50%. [30]
Chitosan - 2018 Promastigotes L. major 50, 100, 200, 400 μg/mL 30, 60, 120 and 180 min The results showed that chitosan at the concentrations of 200 and 400 μg/mL after 180 min killed 100% of promastigote. [31]
Chitosan-based silver nanoparticles - 2017 Promastigotes and amastigotes L. amazonensis 0.42 to 27µg 48 h The results showed that this compound has potent anti-leishmanial effects against promastigote and amastigote stages of L. amazonensis after 48 h exposure, with IC50 values ranging from 0.422 to 2120 μg/mL. [32]
Chitosan microparticles Doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) 2011 Promastigotes L. donovani 0.03, 0.08, 0.13 and 0.2 mg/mL 20 h The results showed that the greatest effect of these microparticles was in the first 60 min and caused nonspecific activation of phagocytosis in macrophages. [33]
Chitosan anchored nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) Miltefosine (HePC-
hexadecyl
phosphocholine)
and amphotericin B (AmB)
2017 Amastigotes L. donovani 50, 100, 250, 500, 1000 ng/mL 4 h The results showed that the highest effect of these nanoparticles was at a concentration of 1000 ng/mL, which killed more than 80% of amastigotes, while AmB alone reduced the parasitic load by about 60%. [34]
Chitosan nanocapsules containing essential oil of Matricaria chamomilla
(NCEO)
- 2020 Promastigotes L. amazonensis 0.1–1000 μg/mL 48 h The results showed that IC50 NCEO was 7.18 ± 0.7 μg/mL against promastigotes and 14.29 ± 1.01 μg/mL against amastigotes. [35]
Chitosan nanoparticles
(CNPs) and, 4-SO4GalNAc modified chitosan nanoparticles
(SCNP)
Amphotericin B (AmpB) 2015 Amastigotes L. donovani 0.05, 0.1, 0.2. 0.4. 0.8 (µg/mL) 24 h The results showed that AmB-SCNPs and AmB–CNPs had a better effect in comparison with amphotericin B and more than 80% of their lethality was recorded, while for amphotericin B 70% lethality have been recorded. [36]
Chitosan nanoparticles - 2019 Amastigotes L. major 5–250 µL/mL 48 h Chitosan coupled with L. major secretory and excretory proteins can increase the ability of infected macrophages to remove parasites by reducing apoptosis. [37]
Chitosan nanoparticles Miltefosine 2020 Promastigotes and amastigotes L. tropica 100 µL/mL 72 h The results showed that IC50 value for promastigote and amastigote forms of L. tropica was 0.07 ± 0.05 µL/mL and 0.09 ± 0.02 µL/mL, respectively, [38]
Chitosan nanoparticles and
sodium tripolyphosphate (TPP)
Amphotericin B (AmB) 2020 Amastigotes L. major and L. mexicana 1 mg/mL 7 days The results showed that EC50 value of AmB-CH-TPP for L. major and L. mexicana amastigotes was 0.14 ± 0.09 µg/mL and 0.5 ± 0.01 µg/mL, respectively. [39]
Chitosan-polyethylene
oxide nanofibers containing berberine
- 2020 Promastigotes and amastigote L. major 0.01–50 μg/mL 24, 48, 72 h The results showed that this compound has potent anti-leishmanial effects against promastigotes and amastigotes of L. major with IC50 values ranging from 0.197 to 1.023 μg/mL. [40]
Curcumin-loaded mannose-functionalized chitosan nanoparticles
(Cur-MCN)
- 2018 Amastigotes
L. donovani 0.05–2.0 mg/L 72 h The results showed that Cur-MCN at the concentration of 0.518 ± 0.01 mg/L reduced 50% of amastigotes; also, no toxic effect on macrophages was observed in the use of Cur-MCN. [41]
Encapsulate S-nitroso-mercaptosuccinic acid into chitosan nanoparticles (NONPs) - 2019 Promastigotes and amastigotes L. amazonensis 25, 50, 75, 100, 200, 400 µM 24 h Experiments on amastigotes and promastigotes of L. amazonensis showed that NONPs reduced 65% of the parasitic load at a dose of 200 µM and killed 85% of promastigotes at a dose of 75 µM. These nanoparticles also reduced the number of amastigotes from 8.5 ± 1.2 in the control group to 4.5 ± 0.4 per 300 macrophages and reduced the infection rate from 76.2 ± 7.1 to 63.7 ± 5.4. [42]
Mannosylated chitosan (MCS)
with dextran
(dex)
Paromomycin (PM) 2019 Amastigotes L. major 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320 μg/mL 24, 48 h The results showed that this compound has no cytotoxicity on macrophages and at a dose of 5 μg/mL reduced more than 60% of the parasitic load inside macrophages. [43]
Nanosized chitosan-betulinic acid - 2020 Promastigotes and amastigote L. major 20 μg/mL 48 h The results showed that BK20 (20 μg/mL) was effective to kill the parasite by 86% compared to negative control group. The infection rate and the mean number of amastigotes per each macrophage were found to be 73% and 7%, respectively. [44]
Oleoyl chitosan and α-cyclodextrin
(α-CD)
- 2019 Amastigotes L. major 100 μL 4 days The results showed that the use of oleoyl chitosan/α-CD platelets at a dose of 60.24 ± 4.42 μg/mL killed 50% of amastigotes. [45]
Poly
(isobutylcyano acrylate) nanoparticles coated with chitosan (Cs-NPs)
Amphotericin B-deoxycholate (AmB-DOC) 2019 Promastigotes and amastigote L. major 20 mg/mL 10 min, 20 min, 30 min, 1 h, or 2 h The IC50 values for L. major promastigote and axenic amastigote forms were 1.14 ± 0.11 μg/mL and 0.53 ± 0.07 μg/mL, respectively. [46]
Sodium alginate-glycol chitosan stearate nanoparticles
(SA-GCS-NP)
Amphotericin B (AmB) 2015 Amastigotes L. donovani 10 ng/mL 48 h The IC50 values of AmB-SAGCS-NP and AmB for amastigotes of L. donovani were 0.128 ± 0.024 μg/mL and 0.214 ± 0.06 μg/mL, respectively. [47]