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Cystic echinococcosis is an important zoonotic disease that occurs in humans and mammals in general, which causes considerable economic loss and poses health concerns in different parts of the world. The patient involved in this case report was a 28-year old man living in Birjand city who had been suffering from intermittent headache, nausea and vomiting for the past two weeks. The other symptoms presented by the patient were dizziness, blurred vision, seizures and imbalance. The patient only complained of headache in the last two weeks and had no symptoms of visual or speech impairment. He had a history of consuming raw vegetables, but did not have canine contact. In brain computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, a large cyst was evident in his brain. The patient was admitted to Razi Hospital in Birjand and followed-up by surgical treatment of the hydatid cyst, with no complications observed.

Objective:Cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania major (L. major) is an endemic disease in Iran. The current reference drugs, including Glucantime, possess high toxicity in addition to some side-effects. Therefore, there is a growing interest in exploring biomedical plants. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the anti-leishmanial activity and cytotoxicity of hydroalcoholic extracts from Prosopis farcta (P. farcta) over promastigote and amastigote forms.Methods:This study was performed at the Iran Birjand University of Medical Sciences, during the year 2019. In this study, the hydroalcoholic extracts of the stems, leaves (LE) and fruits (FE) of P. farcta were obtained. The anti-leishmanial activity was assessed against leptomonad promastigotes and intracellular amastigotes of L. major. The cytotoxicity of these extracts was determined in murine macrophages.Results:The FE and LE of P. farcta demonstrated a significant leishmanicidal effect against L. major promastigotes with an IC50 of 0.9 mg/mL and 1.1 mg/mL, respectively. The FE showed the most anti-leishmanial activity and presented with the highest index of selectivity (SI=14.6) as an anti-leishmanial product. Infected macrophages treated using the FE showed a reduction in parasite burden by 97.3%.Conclusion:The results of the present study demonstrated the leishmanicidal activity of P. farcta on both promastigotes and intracellular amastigotes. There is a need for performing comprehensive studies on relevant animal models and to access the effects of active components of P. farcta extract on the growth of L. major.