An enquiry into antileishmanial activity and quantitative analysis of polyhydroxylated steroidal saponins from Solanum paniculatum L. leaves

Abstract Solanum paniculatum L. is species whose fruits are widely consumed in Brazil as a tonic beverage with higher content of steroidal saponins. In this work, we developed an analytical method for the quantification of the eight saponins present in the 70% ethanol extract from the leaves using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS). Besides, the eight spirostanic saponins were screened for in vitro antileishmanial activity against promastigote and amastigote forms of Leishmania (L.) amazonensis. Substances 1, 2 and 3 were found to be the most active compounds, with inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of 8.51 ± 4.38, 10.75 ± 6.85 and 10.45 ± 4.21 μM, respectively, against promastigote forms and effective concentration (EC50) values of >25, 17.73 ± 0.99 and 19.57 ± 0.84 μM, respectively, against amastigote forms. The cytotoxic test with compounds 1-3 evidenced low toxicity in murine macrophage cells, with values above 50 μM at concentration lower than 25 µM. These findings show that saponins 1-3 should be evaluated in further studies for the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis.