¹Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Razi Herbal Medicines Research Center, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran
²Center for Research and Training in Skin Disease and Leprosy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
³Department of Biostatistics, School of Health and Nutrition, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, P.O. Box 381351698, Khorramabad, Iran
⁴School of Medicine, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran
⁵Razi Herbal Medicines Research Center, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran DOI : 10.12991/mpj.2017.6 At present, no effective vaccine has been found for CL; thus, the upgrading and improvement of the present drugs and development of the novel agents have been demonstrated to be the merely control choice for this disease. The present study aims to evaluate the effects of olive leaf extract (Olea europaea L. OLE) on Leishmania major infection in BALB/c mice. OLE tested on cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in male BALB/c mice with L. major promastigotes (MRHO/IR/75/ER) at the doses of 10, 20, and 30 mg/kg. Results demonstrated that after treatment of the groups with the concentrations of 10, 20, and 40 mg/ kg of OLE, mean diameter of lesions was reduced by 2.16, 5.87, and 7.61 cm, respectively. Moreover, after 4 weeks of treatment, 83.3%, 66.64%, and 33.32% recovery was observed in the infected mice treated with 40, 20, and 10 mg/kg of OLE, respectively. In conclusion, the present study showed OLE has potent therapeutic effects on cutaneous leishmaniasis. Keywords : Olive; Leishmania; mice; cutaneous leishmaniasis; in vivo