Background: Antiprotozoal effects of genus Allium plants including garlic and onion have been proven in Aryana Lands since hundreds years ago. Objective: In this study, inhibitory effect of persian shallot hydroalcoholic extract on growth of Leishmania infantum was evaluated in vitro. Methods: Different concentrations of the extract including 0.01, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2 mg/cc in schneider medium were prepared, the parasites were added and counted every day during 7 days after culture. Results: Concentrations between 0.01 - 0.1 mg/cc inhibited the growth of parasites on the third day, but the highest concentration (0.2 mg/cc) inhibited the growth of parasites on the first day. Conclusion: This study proves inhibitory effect of persian shallot hydroalcoholic extract (containing allicin, ajoene and other agents) on Leishmania infantum. For exact evaluation of persian shallot antileishmanian properties, it is necessary to evaluate inhibitory effect of the plant hydroalcoholic extract in vivo.

Conclusion: In light of LC₅₀ in different days, the anti-tick effect of C. orientalis extract on eggs and larval stage was higher than A. vernalis. The results indicated that the resistance of R. bursa to the extracts was more than H. anatolicum anatolicum.

Background: Among the secondary metabolites isolated from Allium species, steroidal saponins are more important for their cytotoxic activities on a variety of cancer cell lines. Current study has investigated the cytotoxic activity of saponin-riched butanolic fraction of Allium affine, an important edible Allium species of Iran.
Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate cytotoxic activity of saponin-riched fraction of Allium affine Ledeb on breast and ovarian cancer cell lines.
Methods: Bulbs of the plant were extracted respectively by hexane, chloroform, chloroform-methanol (9-1) and methanol in a stepwise method with increasing solvent polarity. The methanol extract was then partitioned between water and butanol and the final dried butanolic fraction was used for further cytotoxicity assay. MCF-7, MDA-MB231 and OVCAR-3 cell lines were tested for cytotoxic activity, using different concentrations of butanolic fraction (0.1-200 µg/ml) by MTT assay. After the incubation time (48 h), the percentage of the viable cells was determined by ELISA reader instrument in 570 nm.
Results: All of the cell lines tested in this investigation exhibited a dose-dependent decrease in succinate dehydrogenase activity against the control and significant dose-dependent inhibition of the growth in all concentrations and cell lines were observed (P<0.01). The most cytotoxic activity was observed for OVCAR-3 cell line (IC₅₀= 7.13±0.94 µg/ml).
Conclusion: The butanolic fraction of A. affine exhibited a significant cytotoxic activity on investigated cell lines, especially OVCAR-3, which is in agreement with other studies conducted on different Allium species. According to the results, it seems that the butanolic fraction of this plant contains cytotoxic components, especially steroidal saponins, and the phytochemical study of the constituents is suggested.