The in Vitro Biological Activity of the Brazilian Brown Seaweed Dictyota mertensii against Leishmania amazonensis

Seaweeds present a wide variety of interesting bioactive molecules. In the present work we evaluated the biological activity of the dichloromethane/methanol (2:1) extract (DME) from the brown seaweed Dictyota mertensii against Leishmania amazonensis and its cytotoxic potential on mammalian cells. The extract showed significant inhibitory effect on the growth of promastigote forms (IC(50) = 71.60 μg/mL) and low toxicity against mammalian cells (CC(50) = 233.10 μg/mL). The DME was also efficient in inhibiting the infection in macrophages, with CC(50) of 81.4 μg/mL and significantly decreased the survival of amastigote forms within these cells. The selectivity index showed that DME was more toxic to both promastigote (SI = 3.25) and amastigote (SI = 2.86) forms than to macrophages. Increased NO production was observed in treated macrophages suggesting that besides acting directly on the parasites, the DME also shows an immunomodulatory effect on macrophages. Drastic ultrastructural alterations consistent with loss of viability and cell death were observed in treated parasites. Confocal microscopy and cytometry analyzes showed no significant impairment of plasma membrane integrity, whereas an intense depolarization of mitochondrial membrane could be observed by using propidium iodide and rhodamine 123 staining, respectively. The low toxicity to mammalian cells and the effective activity against promastigotes and amastigotes, point to the use of DME as a promising agent for the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis.