Download PDF
Homeopathy 2022; 111(01): 031-041
DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1727170
Original Research Article

Evidence for Reversal of Immunosuppression by Homeopathic Medicine to a Predominant Th1-type Immune Response in BALB/c Mice Infected with Leishmania donovani

Jyoti Joshi‡
1   Department of Zoology, Punjab University, Chandigarh, India
,
Chetna Bandral‡
1   Department of Zoology, Punjab University, Chandigarh, India
,
Raj Kumar Manchanda
2   Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy, Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India, New Delhi, India
,
Anil Khurana
2   Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy, Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India, New Delhi, India
,
Debadatta Nayak
2   Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy, Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India, New Delhi, India
,
Sukhbir Kaur
1   Department of Zoology, Punjab University, Chandigarh, India
› Author Affiliations Funding The authors acknowledge the financial support provided by AYUSH (CCRH) Project No. (40/2016–17) through a collaborative scheme to carry out the work.
› Further Information
Also available at
    Permissions and Reprints

Abstract

Background Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a neglected tropical disease that is fatal if treatment is not given. The available chemotherapeutic options are unsatisfactory, and so complementary therapies like homeopathy might be a promising approach.

Methods A nosode from a pure axenic culture of Leishmania donovani was prepared and screened for its anti-leishmanial potential both in an in-vitro and an in-vivo experimental approach.

Results Leishmania donovani amastigote promastigote nosode (LdAPN 30C) exhibited significant anti-leishmanial activity against the promastigote forms of Leishmania donovani and was found to be safe. A study conducted on VL-infected mice revealed that LdAPN 30C resolved the disease by modulating the host immune response toward the Th1 type through upregulating the pro-inflammatory cytokines (IFN-γ and IL-17) and inducing nitric oxide (NO) levels in the infected macrophages. The hepatic parasite load was also found to be significantly decreased. The nosode was found to be safe, as no histological alterations in the liver or kidney were observed in the animals treated with the LdAPN 30C.

Conclusion This is the first study in which an axenic culture of Leishmania donovani has been used for the preparation of a homeopathic medication. The study highlights the anti-leishmanial and immunomodulatory potential of a homeopathic nosode in experimental VL.

Keywords

visceral leishmaniasis - homeopathy - cytokines - nitric oxide - immune response

Note

J.J. and C.B. contributed equally to this article.


Supplementary Material



Publication History

Received: 26 October 2020

Accepted: 01 February 2021

Article published online:
28 August 2021

© 2021. Faculty of Homeopathy. This article is published by Thieme.

Georg Thieme Verlag KG
Rüdigerstraße 14, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany

 

  • References

  • 1 Torres-Guerrero E, Quintanilla-Cedillo MR, Ruiz-Esmenjaud J, Arenas R. Leishmaniasis: a review. F1000 Res 2017; 6: 750
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 2 Karunaweera ND, Ginige S, Senanayake S. et al. Spatial epidemiologic trends and hotspots of leishmaniasis, Sri Lanka, 2001-2018. Emerg Infect Dis 2020; 26: 1-10
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 3 Singh OP, Hasker E, Boelaert M, Sundar S. Elimination of visceral leishmaniasis on the Indian subcontinent. Lancet Infect Dis 2016; 16: e304-e309
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 4 Jayakumar B, Murthy N, Misra K, Burza S. “It's just a fever”: gender based barriers to care-seeking for visceral leishmaniasis in highly endemic districts of India: a qualitative study. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2019; 13: e0007457
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 5 Souto EB, Dias-Ferreira J, Craveiro SA. et al. Therapeutic interventions for countering leishmaniasis and Chagas's disease: from traditional sources to nanotechnological systems. Pathogens 2019; 8: 119
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 6 Maspi N, Abdoli A, Ghaffarifar F. Pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in cutaneous leishmaniasis: a review. Pathog Glob Health 2016; 110: 247-260
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 7 World Health Organization (WHO). . Safety Issues in the Preparation of Homeopathic Medicines. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2009: 1-63
    Google Scholar
  • 8 Nascimento KF, de Santana FR, da Costa CRV. et al. M1 homeopathic complex trigger effective responses against Leishmania (L) amazonensis in vivo and in vitro. Cytokine 2017; 99: 80-90
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 9 Rodrigues de Santana F, de Paula Coelho C, Cardoso TN. et al. Modulation of inflammation response to murine cutaneous leishmaniasis by homeopathic medicines: antimonium crudum 30cH. Homeopathy 2014; 103: 264-274
    Article in Thieme ConnectPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 10 Pereira WK, Lonardoni MV, Grespan R, Caparroz-Assef SM, Cuman RK, Bersani-Amado CA. Immunomodulatory effect of Canova medication on experimental Leishmania amazonensis infection. J Infect 2005; 51: 157-164
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 11 Bradley DJ, Kirkley J. Regulation of Leishmania populations within the host. I. the variable course of Leishmania donovani infections in mice. Clin Exp Immunol 1977; 30: 119-129
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 12 Joshi J, Bandral C, Manchanda RK, Khurana A, Nayak D, Kaur S. The effect of Iodium 30c on experimental visceral leishmaniasis. Homeopathy 2020; 109: 213-223
    Article in Thieme ConnectPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 13 Joshi J, Kaur S. Studies on the protective efficacy of second-generation vaccine along with standard antileishmanial drug in Leishmania donovani infected BALB/c mice. Parasitology 2014; 141: 554-562
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 14 Roy S, Dutta D, Satyavarapu EM. et al. Mahanine exerts in vitro and in vivo antileishmanial activity by modulation of redox homeostasis. Sci Rep 2017; 7: 4141
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 15 da Silva Santos C, Brodskyn CI. The role of CD4 and CD8 T cells in human cutaneous leishmaniasis. Front Public Health 2014; 2: 165
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 16 Habib S, El Andaloussi A, Elmasry K. et al. PDL-1 blockade prevents T cell exhaustion, inhibits autophagy and promotes clearance of Leishmania donovani . Infect Immun 2018; 86: e00019-e00019
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 17 Ong HB, Clare S, Roberts AJ, Wilson ME, Wright GJ. Establishment, optimisation and quantitation of a bioluminescent murine infection model of visceral leishmaniasis for systematic vaccine screening. Sci Rep 2020; 10: 4689
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 18 Kar S, Metz C, McMahon-Pratt D. CD4+ T cells play a dominant role in protection against New World leishmaniasis induced by vaccination with the P-4 amastigote antigen. Infect Immun 2005; 73: 3823-3827
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 19 Cummings HE, Tuladhar R, Satoskar AR. Cytokines and their STATs in cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis. J Biomed Biotechnol 2010; 2010: 294389
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 20 Mallick S, Dutta A, Chaudhuri A. et al. Successful therapy of murine visceral leishmaniasis with Astrakurkurone, a Triterpene Isolated from the Mushroom Astraeus hygrometricus, involves the induction of protective cell-mediated immunity and TLR9. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2016; 60: 2696-2708
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 21 Gupta VK, Mathur M. Immunomodulatory effects of homoeopathic medicines: a review of pre-clinical studies. Indian J Res Homoeopathy 2018; 12: 90-94
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 22 Carneiro PP, Conceição J, Macedo M, Magalhães V, Carvalho EM, Bacellar O. The role of nitric oxide and reactive oxygen species in the killing of Leishmania braziliensis by monocytes from patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis. PLoS One 2016; 11: e0148084
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 23 Samadder A, Das S, Das J, Paul A, Boujedaini N, Khuda-Bukhsh AR. The potentized homeopathic drug, Lycopodium clavatum (5C and 15C) has anti-cancer effect on hela cells in vitro. J Acupunct Meridian Stud 2013; 6: 180-187
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 24 Pathak S, Multani AS, Banerji P, Banerji P. Ruta 6 selectively induces cell death in brain cancer cells but proliferation in normal peripheral blood lymphocytes: a novel treatment for human brain cancer. Int J Oncol 2003; 23: 975-982
    PubMedGoogle Scholar