Bahman Rahimi Esboei - Department of Parasitology, School of Medical Sciences, Tonekabon branch, Islamic Azad University, Tonekabon, Iran.
Aroona Chabra - Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacology, Ayatollah Amoli branch, Islamic Azad University, Amol, Iran.
Pouya Hedayati - Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacology, Ayatollah Amoli branch, Islamic Azad University, Amol, Iran.

Background and Aim : Leishmaniasis is one of the most important parasitic diseases in arid andsemi-arid regions of the world and clinically causes cutaneous, cutaneous-mucosal, visceral andcutaneous leishmaniasis. Cutaneous leishmaniasis is caused by Leishmania major and Leishmaniatropica species and is the most common form of the disease in our country. Due to the increasingprevalence of this disease and the increasing reports of glucantime resistance, a common treatmentdrug, it seems necessary to study and find a safe and natural alternative drug for the treatment ofleishmaniasis. Due to this necessity, the use of methanolic extract of Rhamnus catarthica plant asantibacterial, fungal and anti-cancer compounds has been studied. The aim of this study was toevaluate the anti-leishmaniasis effects of methanolic, hydroalcoholic and chloroform extracts ofRhamnus catarthica on Leishmania major parasite in vitro.Methods : The standard strain of Leishmania major parasite was prepared from Leishmaniasisreference laboratory of Tehran University of Medical Sciences and cultured in RPMI-۱۶۴۰ culturemedium. After collection, Rhamnus catarthica was dried in room tempreature away from light andturned into powder by electric shredder. The resulting father was extracted using massage methodand solvents of methanol, hydroalcohol (water and methanol) and chloroform and concentrationsof ۱۰۰, ۲۰۰, ۴۰۰ and ۸۰۰ μg / ml were prepared. The effect of different concentrations onLeishmania parasite was evaluated after ۱۲, ۲۴ and ۴۸ hours. The results were obtained using SPSS۲۲ software analysis of variance, LSD post hoc and Reppeted meager for data analysis.Results : In this study, methanolic, hydroalcoholic and chloroform extracts of Ramenus catharticain all concentrations had acceptable antiparasitic effects against Leishmania major parasite andamong different extracts, chloroform extract had the best effect. Concentration of ۸۰۰ μg / ml inall extracts after ۲۴ and ۴۸ hours showed a better effect than glucantime.Conclusion : Considering the lethality of chloroform extract of Rhamnus catarthica plant onLeishmania major parasite and better effect than positive controls, it can be concluded that theabove compounds can be a suitable candidate for the treatment of leishmaniasis, of course, afteradditional studies.

Leishmania major; Rhamnus catarthica; cutaneous leishmaniasis