efficacy of a lawsonia inermis and zataria multiflora herbal combination in the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by leishmania major in balb/c mice

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (cl) is a significant parasitic disease in many parts of the world, including iran. zataria multiflora and lawsonia inermis have known antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties. this study aimed to investigate the anti-leishmanial activity of a herbal combination of z. multiflora and l. inermis on cl in balb/c mice. balb/c mice infected with cl were treated with 20 mg/kg or 40 mg/kg doses of the herbal combination, administered via injection around the lesion or topical application, for three weeks. the lesion size was measured before treatment and weekly thereafter. in the negative control group, the lesion size significantly increased over time (p ≤ 0.001). however, the lesion size decreased significantly in the 20 mg/kg injection group (from 35.55 to 21.46 mm²) and 20 mg/kg topical group (from 32.39 to 10.24 mm²) (p < 0.05). the lesion size was also significantly reduced by 16.72 and 24.78 mm² in the 40 mg/ml injection and topical groups, respectively (p ≤ 0.001). the results demonstrate that the combined hydroalcoholic extract of z. multiflora and l. inermis has a promising ability to heal cl wounds, with topical administration showing better efficacy compared to injection.