Treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a public health problem in endemic areas. The objective of the current study was to investigate the immunotherapeutic activities of the hydroalcoholic extract of Glycyrrhiza glabra (HEG) and glycyrrhizic acid (GA) in the treatment of Leishmania major (L. major)-infected BALB/c mice. In this study, the effect of HEG and GA was checked in vitro on growth of L. major promastigote and amastigote using MTT assay and microscopic counting, respectively. For in vivo experiment, the lesion induced by L. major on BALB/c mice were treated intraperitoneally with HEG, GA, meglumine antimoniate or phosphate buffer saline (negative control) for one month. Then, the lesion development and the parasite burden of the lymph node was assessed, the cytokine response (IFN-γ and IL-4) to Leishmania antigens was evaluated using ELISA method. The results showed that HEG and GA significantly inhibited the growth of L. major promastigotes and amastigotes, the lesion development, parasite burden in the lymph nodes, level of IFN-γ and the ratio of IFN-γ/IL-4 in HEG, GA and meglumine antimoniate-treated mice were significantly higher compared with the negative control group, there was no difference between the HEG, GA and meglumine antimoniate group. It is concluded that hydroalcoholic extract of G. glabra and glycyrrhizic acid showed therapeutic and immunomodulatory effects on L. major-infected BALB/c mice

中文翻译：

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光果甘草和甘草酸对利什曼原虫重感染BALB/C小鼠的免疫治疗作用

皮肤利什曼病 (CL) 的治疗是流行地区的公共卫生问题。本研究的目的是研究光甘草水醇提取物(HEG) 和甘草酸 (GA) 在治疗大利什曼原虫 ( L. major ) 感染的 BALB/c 小鼠中的免疫治疗活性。在这项研究中，分别使用 MTT 法和显微镜计数法在体外检查了 HEG 和 GA 对L. major promastigote 和 amastigote生长的影响。对于体内实验， L. major诱导的病变用 HEG、GA、葡甲胺锑酸盐或磷酸盐缓冲盐水（阴性对照）对 BALB/c 小鼠进行腹膜内处理 1 个月。然后，评估淋巴结的病变发展和寄生虫负荷，使用ELISA方法评估对利什曼原虫抗原的细胞因子反应（IFN-γ和IL-4）。结果表明，HEG和GA显着抑制L. major promastigotes和amastigotes的生长、病变的发展、淋巴结中的寄生虫负荷、IFN-γ水平和HEG、GA中的IFN-γ/IL-4比值。和葡甲胺锑酸盐处理的小鼠相比，与阴性对照组相比显着升高，HEG、GA和葡甲胺锑酸盐组之间没有差异。结论是水醇提取物G. glabra和甘草酸对L. major感染的 BALB/c 小鼠显示出治疗和免疫调节作用