In vitro experimental antileishmanial potential of ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid, disodium salt.

Leishmania donovani promastigotes (NLB 065) were treated to various concentrations of ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA), disodium salt for 7 days. Concentrations of up to 1.0 mg/ml produced no significant reduction in the population of Leishmania promastigotes cultured in RPMI 1640 medium supplemented with 15% foetal calf serum and incubated at 27 degrees C (P greater than 0.05). Concentrations between 0.05 and 0.1 mg/ml EDTA did not significantly affect the viability of Balb/c mouse peritoneal macrophages (P greater than 0.05) whereas those equal to or above 0.2 mg/ml were severely toxic to macrophages (P less than 0.05; n = 8). Leishmania parasites engulfed in mouse peritoneal macrophages were treated to various concentrations of ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) disodium salt. The higher the EDTA concentration within the acceptable toxic levels for macrophages (less than or equal to 0.1 mg/ml), the higher was the rate at which parasites were cleared (p less than 0.05). The length of time in days within which infected macrophages were treated contributed significantly to a decline in the level of parasite-loads (P less than 0.05; n = 10). Analysis of mean metal ion values in mg/1 using atomic absorption spectrometry revealed that the levels of calcium, magnesium, and iron were virtually unchanged in the supernatant of variant culture experiments (P greater than 0.05). The level of manganese was higher in ethylenediaiene tetraacetic acid (EDTA), disodium salt-treated cultures as compared to the control (P less than 0.05; n = 20).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)