In vitro Antileishmanial Activity of Some Ethiopian Medicinal Plants.

Introduction: Leishmaniasis is a group of diseases caused by protozoan parasites, which remains a burden for developing countries. The lack of a vaccine as well as the emergence of resistance toward the recommended drugs pose a challenge for the control of the disease. This urges the demand for new antileishmanial agents to prevent and treat this disease.

Antileishmanial Evaluation of the Leaf Latex of , Aloin A/B, and Its Semisynthetic Derivatives against Two Species.

The currently available antileishmanial drugs are either toxic or too expensive for routine use in developing countries where the disease is most common. Local people in the Somalia region of Ethiopia use the leaves of Todaro for the treatment of malaria, jaundice, and skin diseases. In our ongoing search for new, efficient, and safe antileishmanial drugs, we investigated the leaf latex of and its acid-hydrolyzed product aloin A/B (), as well as the semisynthesized derivatives of aloin A/B, namely, aloe-emodin () and rhein () against promastigotes and axenically cultured amastigotes of and clinical isolates.

Antitrypanosomal activity of aloin and its derivatives against Trypanosoma congolense field isolate.

Background: There is an urgent need for the development of new, cheap, safe and highly effective drugs against African trypanosomiasis that affects both man and livestock in sub-Saharan Africa including Ethiopia. In the present study the exudate of Aloe gilbertii, an endemic Aloe species of Ethiopia, aloin, aloe-emodin and rhein were tested for their in vitro and in vivo antitrypanosomal activities against Trypanosoma congolense field isolate. Aloin was prepared from the leaf exudate of A.