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Proaño-Bolaños C, Morán-Marcillo G, Espinosa de Los Monteros-Silva N, Bermúdez-Puga S, Salazar MA, Blasco-Zúñiga A, Cuesta S, Molina C, Espinosa F, Meneses L, Rojas-Silva P, Zapata Mena S, Sáenz FE, Rivera I M, Costales JA. Bioactivity of synthetic peptides from Ecuadorian frog skin secretions against Leishmania mexicana, Plasmodium falciparum, and Trypanosoma cruzi. Microbiol Spectr 2024:e0333923. [PMID: 39012112 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.03339-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2023] [Accepted: 06/20/2024] [Indexed: 07/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Chagas disease, leishmaniasis, and malaria are major parasitic diseases disproportionately affecting the underprivileged population in developing nations. Finding new, alternative anti-parasitic compounds to treat these diseases is crucial because of the limited number of options currently available, the side effects they cause, the need for long treatment courses, and the emergence of drug-resistant parasites. Anti-microbial peptides (AMPs) derived from amphibian skin secretions are small bioactive molecules capable of lysing the cell membrane of pathogens while having low toxicity against human cells. Here, we report the anti-parasitic activity of five AMPs derived from skin secretions of three Ecuadorian frogs: cruzioseptin-1, cruzioseptin-4 (CZS-4), and cruzioseptin-16 from Cruziohyla calcarifer; dermaseptin-SP2 from Agalychnis spurrelli; and pictuseptin-1 from Boana picturata. These five AMPs were chemically synthesized. Initially, the hemolytic activity of CZS-4 and its minimal inhibitory concentration against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans were determined. Subsequently, the cytotoxicity of the synthetic AMPs against mammalian cells and their anti-parasitic activity against Leishmania mexicana promastigotes, erythrocytic stages of Plasmodium falciparum and mammalian stages of Trypanosoma cruzi were evaluated in vitro. The five AMPs displayed activity against the pathogens studied, with different levels of cytotoxicity against mammalian cells. In silico molecular docking analysis suggests this bioactivity may occur via pore formation in the plasma membrane, resulting in microbial lysis. CZS-4 displayed anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-parasitic activities with low cytotoxicity against mammalian cells. Further studies about this promising AMP are required to gain a better understanding of its activity.IMPORTANCEChagas disease, malaria, and leishmaniasis are major tropical diseases that cause extensive morbidity and mortality, for which available treatment options are unsatisfactory because of limited efficacy and side effects. Frog skin secretions contain molecules with anti-microbial properties known as anti-microbial peptides. We synthesized five peptides derived from the skin secretions of different species of tropical frogs and tested them against cultures of the causative agents of these three diseases, parasites known as Trypanosoma cruzi, Plasmodium falciparum, and Leishmania mexicana. All the different synthetic peptides studied showed activity against one of more of the parasites. Peptide cruzioseptin-4 is of special interest since it displayed intense activity against parasites while being innocuous against cultured mammalian cells, which indicates it does not simply hold general toxic properties; rather, its activity is specific against the parasites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolina Proaño-Bolaños
- Biomolecules Discovery Group, Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Universidad Regional Amazónica Ikiam, Tena, Ecuador
| | - Giovanna Morán-Marcillo
- Biomolecules Discovery Group, Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Universidad Regional Amazónica Ikiam, Tena, Ecuador
| | | | - Sebastián Bermúdez-Puga
- Biomolecules Discovery Group, Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Universidad Regional Amazónica Ikiam, Tena, Ecuador
- Department of Biochemical-Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Mateo A Salazar
- Laboratorio de Investigación en Citogenética y Biomoléculas de Anfibios (LICBA), Centro de Investigación para la Salud en América Latina (CISeAL), Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
- Centro de Investigación para la Salud en América Latina, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Ailín Blasco-Zúñiga
- Laboratorio de Investigación en Citogenética y Biomoléculas de Anfibios (LICBA), Centro de Investigación para la Salud en América Latina (CISeAL), Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Sebastián Cuesta
- Laboratorio de Química Computacional, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Carolina Molina
- Instituto de Microbiología, Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Franklin Espinosa
- Instituto de Microbiología, Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Lorena Meneses
- Laboratorio de Química Computacional, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Patricio Rojas-Silva
- Instituto de Microbiología, Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Sonia Zapata Mena
- Instituto de Microbiología, Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Fabián E Sáenz
- Centro de Investigación para la Salud en América Latina, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Miryan Rivera I
- Laboratorio de Investigación en Citogenética y Biomoléculas de Anfibios (LICBA), Centro de Investigación para la Salud en América Latina (CISeAL), Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Jaime A Costales
- Centro de Investigación para la Salud en América Latina, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
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Abd El Maksoud EA, Rady MH, Mahmoud AGT, Hamza D, Seadawy MG, Essa EE. Potential therapeutic biomolecules of hymenopteran venom against SARS-CoV-2 from Egyptian patients. Sci Rep 2024; 14:15363. [PMID: 38965389 PMCID: PMC11224265 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-65038-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2024] [Accepted: 06/17/2024] [Indexed: 07/06/2024] Open
Abstract
The therapeutic potential of insect-derived bioactive molecules as anti-SARS-CoV-2 agents has shown promising results. Hymenopteran venoms, notably from Apis mellifera (honeybee) and Vespa orientalis (oriental wasp), were examined for the first time in an in vitro setting for their potential anti-COVID-19 activity. This assessment utilized an immunodiagnostic system to detect the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid antigen titer reduction. Further analyses, including cytotoxicity assays, plaque reduction assays, and in silico docking-based screening, were performed to evaluate the efficacy of the most potent venom. Results indicated that bee and wasp venoms contain bioactive molecules with potential therapeutic effects against SARS-CoV-2.Nevertheless, the wasp venom exhibited superior efficacy compared to bee venom, achieving a 90% maximal (EC90) concentration effect of antigen depletion at 0.184 mg/mL, in contrast to 2.23 mg/mL for bee venom. The cytotoxicity of the wasp venom was assessed on Vero E6 cells 48 h post-treatment using the MTT assay. The CC 50 of the cell growth was 0.16617 mg/mL for Vero E6 cells. The plaque reduction assay of wasp venom revealed 50% inhibition (IC50) at a 0.208 mg/mL concentration. The viral count at 50% inhibition was 2.5 × 104 PFU/mL compared to the initial viral count of 5 × 104 PFU/mL. In silico data for the wasp venom revealed a strong attraction to binding sites on the ACE2 protein, indicating ideal interactions. This substantiates the potential of wasp venom as a promising viral inhibitor against SARS-CoV-2, suggesting its consideration as a prospective natural preventive and curative antiviral drug. In conclusion, hymenopteran venoms, particularly wasp venom, hold promise as a source of potential therapeutic biomolecules against SARS-CoV-2. More research and clinical trials are needed to evaluate these results and investigate their potential for translation into innovative antiviral therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eman A Abd El Maksoud
- Armed Forces Laboratories of Medical Research, El-Khalifa El-Maamoun, Mansheya El-Bakry, Heliopolis, Cairo Governorate, Egypt
| | - Magda H Rady
- Entomology Department Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Cairo, 11566, Egypt
| | - Ahmed Gad Taha Mahmoud
- Microbiology Department, Armed Forces Laboratories of Medical Research, El-Khalifa El-Maamoun, Mansheya El-Bakry, Heliopolis, Cairo Governorate, Egypt
| | - Dalia Hamza
- Zoonoses Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt
| | - Mohamed G Seadawy
- Biological Prevention Department, Chemical Warfare, Egypt Army, Cairo, Egypt
- Entomology Department, Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
| | - Eman E Essa
- Entomology Department Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Cairo, 11566, Egypt.
- Entomology Department, Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
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Cunha NFC, de Siqueira LBDO, Garcia AR, Rodrigues IA, Matos APDS, Júnior ER, Monteiro MSDSB. Nanoemulsions containing amphotericin b and paromomycin for the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis. Acta Trop 2024; 254:107189. [PMID: 38522630 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2024.107189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2023] [Revised: 03/01/2024] [Accepted: 03/14/2024] [Indexed: 03/26/2024]
Abstract
Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a vector-borne disease characterized by skin lesions that can evolve into high-magnitude ulcerated lesions. Thus, this study aimed to develop an innovative nanoemulsion (NE) with clove oil, Poloxamer® 407, and multiple drugs, such as amphotericin B (AmB) and paromomycin (PM), for use in the topical treatment of CL. METHODS Droplet size, morphology, drug content, stability, in vitro release profile, in vitro cytotoxicity on RAW 264.7 macrophages, and antileishmanial activity using axenic amastigotes of Leishmania amazonensis were assessed for NEs. RESULTS After optimizing the formulation parameters, such as the concentration of clove oil and drugs, using an experimental design, it was possible to obtain a NE with an average droplet size of 40 nm and a polydispersion index of 0.3, and these parameters were maintained throughout the 365 days. Furthermore, the NE showed stability of AmB and PM content for 180 days under refrigeration (4 °C), presented a pH compatible with the skin, and released modified AmB and PM. NE showed the same toxicity as free AmB and higher toxicity than free PM against RAW 264.7 macrophages. The same activity as free AmB, and higher activity than free PM against amastigotes L. amazonensis. CONCLUSION It is possible to develop a NE for the treatment of CL; however, complementary studies regarding the antileishmanial activity of NE should be carried out.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Fontenele Callipo Cunha
- Laboratório de Desenvolvimento Galênico, Departamento de Fármacos e Medicamentos, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (FF/UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Luciana Betzler de Oliveira de Siqueira
- Laboratório de Desenvolvimento Galênico, Departamento de Fármacos e Medicamentos, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (FF/UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Andreza Raposo Garcia
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciências Farmacêuticas, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil; Laboratório de Investigação de Substâncias Bioativas, Departamentos de Produtos Naturais e Alimentos, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Igor Almeida Rodrigues
- Laboratório de Investigação de Substâncias Bioativas, Departamentos de Produtos Naturais e Alimentos, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Ana Paula Dos Santos Matos
- Laboratório de Desenvolvimento Galênico, Departamento de Fármacos e Medicamentos, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (FF/UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Eduardo Ricci Júnior
- Laboratório de Desenvolvimento Galênico, Departamento de Fármacos e Medicamentos, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (FF/UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Mariana Sato de Souza Bustamante Monteiro
- Laboratório de Desenvolvimento Galênico, Departamento de Fármacos e Medicamentos, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (FF/UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
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Freitas CS, Pereira IAG, Lage DP, Vale DL, Pimenta BL, Soares NP, Santiago SS, Martins VT, Câmara RSB, Jesus MM, Tavares GSV, Ramos FF, Ludolf F, Magalhães LND, Oliveira FM, Duarte MC, Chávez-Fumagalli MA, Costa AV, Roatt BM, Teixeira RR, Coelho EAF. New synthetic molecules incorporated into polymeric micelles used for treatment against visceral leishmaniasis. Cytokine 2024; 177:156543. [PMID: 38373365 DOI: 10.1016/j.cyto.2024.156543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2023] [Revised: 01/30/2024] [Accepted: 02/06/2024] [Indexed: 02/21/2024]
Abstract
Treatment against visceral leishmaniasis (VL) presents problems, mainly related to drug toxicity, high cost and/or by emergence of resistant strains. In the present study, two vanillin synthetic derivatives, 3 s [4-(2-hydroxy-3-(4-octyl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)propoxy)-3-methoxybenzaldehyde] and 3 t [4-(3-(4-decyl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)-2-hydroxypropoxy)-3-methoxybenzaldehyde], were evaluated as therapeutic candidates in a murine model against Leishmania infantum infection. Molecules were used pure (3 s and 3 t) or incorporated into Poloxamer 407-based micelles (3 s/M and 3 t/M) in the infected animals, which also received amphotericin B (AmpB) or Ambisome® as control. Results showed that 3 s/M and 3 t/M compositions induced a Th1-type immune response in treated animals, with higher levels of IFN-γ, IL-2, TNF-α, IL-12, nitrite, and IgG2a antibodies. Animals presented also low toxicity and significant reductions in the parasite load in their spleens, livers, bone marrows and draining lymph nodes, as compared as control groups mice, with the evaluations performed one and 30 days after the application of the therapeutics. In conclusion, preliminary data suggest that 3 s/M and 3 t/M could be considered for future studies as therapeutic agents against VL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camila S Freitas
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Infectologia e Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Prof. Alfredo Balena, 190, Santa Efigênia, 30130-100 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Isabela A G Pereira
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Infectologia e Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Prof. Alfredo Balena, 190, Santa Efigênia, 30130-100 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Daniela P Lage
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Infectologia e Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Prof. Alfredo Balena, 190, Santa Efigênia, 30130-100 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Danniele L Vale
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Infectologia e Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Prof. Alfredo Balena, 190, Santa Efigênia, 30130-100 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Breno L Pimenta
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Infectologia e Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Prof. Alfredo Balena, 190, Santa Efigênia, 30130-100 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Nícia P Soares
- Laboratório de Imunopatologia, Núcleo de Pesquisas em Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Insituto de Ciências Exatas e Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Samira S Santiago
- Grupo de Síntese e Pesquisa de Compostos Bioativos, Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Avenida PH Rolfs, S/N, 36570-900 Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Vívian T Martins
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Infectologia e Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Prof. Alfredo Balena, 190, Santa Efigênia, 30130-100 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Raquel S B Câmara
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Infectologia e Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Prof. Alfredo Balena, 190, Santa Efigênia, 30130-100 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Marcelo M Jesus
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Infectologia e Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Prof. Alfredo Balena, 190, Santa Efigênia, 30130-100 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Grasiele S V Tavares
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Infectologia e Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Prof. Alfredo Balena, 190, Santa Efigênia, 30130-100 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Fernanda F Ramos
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Infectologia e Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Prof. Alfredo Balena, 190, Santa Efigênia, 30130-100 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Fernanda Ludolf
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Infectologia e Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Prof. Alfredo Balena, 190, Santa Efigênia, 30130-100 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 30130-110, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Lícia N D Magalhães
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Infectologia e Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Prof. Alfredo Balena, 190, Santa Efigênia, 30130-100 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Fabrício M Oliveira
- Instituto Federal de Educação de Minas Gerais, Rua Afonso Sardinha, 90, Bairro Pioneiros, 36420-000 Ouro Branco, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Mariana C Duarte
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Infectologia e Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Prof. Alfredo Balena, 190, Santa Efigênia, 30130-100 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil; Departamento de Patologia Clínica, COLTEC, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, 31270-901 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Miguel A Chávez-Fumagalli
- Computational Biology and Chemistry Research Group, Vicerrectorado de Investigación, Universidad Católica de Santa María, Urb. San José S/N, Umacollo, Arequipa, Peru
| | - Adilson V Costa
- Departamento de Química e Física, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Alto Universitário, s/n, Guararema, 29500-000, Alegre, Espírito Santo, Brazil
| | - Bruno M Roatt
- Laboratório de Imunopatologia, Núcleo de Pesquisas em Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Insituto de Ciências Exatas e Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Róbson R Teixeira
- Grupo de Síntese e Pesquisa de Compostos Bioativos, Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Avenida PH Rolfs, S/N, 36570-900 Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Eduardo A F Coelho
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Infectologia e Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Prof. Alfredo Balena, 190, Santa Efigênia, 30130-100 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil; Departamento de Patologia Clínica, COLTEC, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, 31270-901 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
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Ferreira BA, Coser EM, de la Roca S, Aoki JI, Branco N, Soares GHC, Lima MIS, Coelho AC. Amphotericin B resistance in Leishmania amazonensis: In vitro and in vivo characterization of a Brazilian clinical isolate. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2024; 18:e0012175. [PMID: 38768213 PMCID: PMC11142706 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0012175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2024] [Revised: 05/31/2024] [Accepted: 04/27/2024] [Indexed: 05/22/2024] Open
Abstract
In Brazil, Leishmania amazonensis is the etiological agent of cutaneous and diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis. The state of Maranhão in the Northeast of Brazil is prevalent for these clinical forms of the disease and also has high rates of HIV infection. Here, we characterized the drug susceptibility of a L. amazonensis clinical isolate from a 46-year-old man with diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis coinfected with HIV from this endemic area. This patient underwent several therapeutic regimens with meglumine antimoniate, liposomal amphotericin B, and pentamidine, without success. In vitro susceptibility assays against promastigotes and intracellular amastigotes demonstrated that this isolate had low susceptibility to amphotericin B, when compared with the reference strain of this species that is considered susceptible to antileishmanial drugs. Additionally, we investigated whether the low in vitro susceptibility would affect the in vivo response to amphotericin B treatment. The drug was effective in reducing the lesion size and parasite burden in mice infected with the reference strain, whereas those infected with the clinical isolate and a resistant line (generated experimentally by stepwise selection) were refractory to amphotericin B treatment. To evaluate whether the isolate was intrinsically resistant to amphotericin B in animals, infected mice were treated with other drugs that had not been used in the treatment of the patient (miltefosine, paromomycin, and a combination of both). Our findings demonstrated that all drug schemes were able to reduce lesion size and parasite burden in animals infected with the clinical isolate, confirming the amphotericin B-resistance phenotype. These findings indicate that the treatment failure observed in the patient may be associated with amphotericin B resistance, and demonstrate the potential emergence of amphotericin B-resistant L. amazonensis isolates in an area of Brazil endemic for cutaneous leishmaniasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bianca A. Ferreira
- Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil
| | - Elizabeth M. Coser
- Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil
| | - Stephane de la Roca
- Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil
| | - Juliana I. Aoki
- Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil
| | - Nilson Branco
- Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil
| | - Gustavo H. C. Soares
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Mayara I. S. Lima
- Departamento de Biologia, Programas de Pós Graduação em Saúde e Ambiente e Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Maranhão, São Luís, Brazil
| | - Adriano C. Coelho
- Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil
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Oyadomari Y, Goto Y, Suganuma K, Kawazu SI, Becking LE, Fusetani N, Nakao Y. Aurantoside L, a New Tetramic Acid Glycoside with Anti-Leishmanial Activity Isolated from the Marine Sponge Siliquariaspongia japonica. Mar Drugs 2024; 22:171. [PMID: 38667788 PMCID: PMC11050911 DOI: 10.3390/md22040171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2024] [Revised: 04/04/2024] [Accepted: 04/05/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024] Open
Abstract
A new tetramic acid glycoside, aurantoside L (1), was isolated from the sponge Siliquariaspongia japonica collected at Tsushima Is., Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. The structure of aurantoside L (1) composed of a tetramic acid bearing a chlorinated polyene system and a trisaccharide part was elucidated using spectral analysis. Aurantoside L (1) showed anti-parasitic activity against L. amazonensis with an IC50 value of 0.74 µM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yasumoto Oyadomari
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Okubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan;
| | - Yasuyuki Goto
- Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Science, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan;
| | - Keisuke Suganuma
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Inada-cho, Obihiro 080-8555, Japan; (K.S.); (S.-i.K.)
| | - Shin-ichiro Kawazu
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Inada-cho, Obihiro 080-8555, Japan; (K.S.); (S.-i.K.)
| | - Leontine E. Becking
- Aquaculture & Fisheries Group, Wageningen University & Research, P.O. Box 338, Bode 32, 6700 AH Wageningen, The Netherlands;
- Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Darwinweg 2, 23333 CR Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Nobuhiro Fusetani
- Research Institute for Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Okubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan;
| | - Yoichi Nakao
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Okubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan;
- Research Institute for Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Okubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan;
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Bharadava K, Upadhyay TK, Kaushal RS, Ahmad I, Alraey Y, Siddiqui S, Saeed M. Genomic Insight of Leishmania Parasite: In-Depth Review of Drug Resistance Mechanisms and Genetic Mutations. ACS OMEGA 2024; 9:12500-12514. [PMID: 38524425 PMCID: PMC10955595 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.3c09400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2023] [Revised: 02/07/2024] [Accepted: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 03/26/2024]
Abstract
Leishmaniasis, which is caused by a parasitic protozoan of the genus Leishmania, is still a major threat to global health, impacting millions of individuals worldwide in endemic areas. Chemotherapy has been the principal method for managing leishmaniasis; nevertheless, the evolution of drug resistance offers a significant obstacle to therapeutic success. Drug-resistant behavior in these parasites is a complex phenomenon including both innate and acquired mechanisms. Resistance is frequently related to changes in drug transportation, drug target alterations, and enhanced efflux of the drug from the pathogen. This review has revealed specific genetic mutations in Leishmania parasites that are associated with resistance to commonly used antileishmanial drugs such as pentavalent antimonials, miltefosine, amphotericin B, and paromomycin, resulting in changes in gene expression along with the functioning of various proteins involved in drug uptake, metabolism, and efflux. Understanding the genetic changes linked to drug resistance in Leishmania parasites is essential for creating approaches for tackling and avoiding the spread of drug-resistant variants. Based on which specific treatments focus on mutations and pathways could potentially improve treatment efficacy and help long-term leishmaniasis control. More study is needed to uncover the complete range of genetic changes generating medication resistance and to develop new therapies based on available information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krupanshi Bharadava
- Biophysics
& Structural Biology, Research & Development Cell, Parul University, Vadodara, Gujarat 391760, India
| | - Tarun Kumar Upadhyay
- Department
of Life Sciences, Parul Institute of Applied Sciences & Research
and Development Cell, Parul University, Vadodara, Gujarat 391760, India
| | - Radhey Shyam Kaushal
- Biophysics
& Structural Biology, Research & Development Cell, Parul University, Vadodara, Gujarat 391760, India
- Department
of Life Sciences, Parul Institute of Applied Sciences & Research
and Development Cell, Parul University, Vadodara, Gujarat 391760, India
| | - Irfan Ahmad
- Department
of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Khalid University, Abha 61421, Saudi Arabia
| | - Yasser Alraey
- Department
of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Khalid University, Abha 61421, Saudi Arabia
| | - Samra Siddiqui
- Department
of Health Service Management, College of Public Health and Health
Informatics, University of Hail, Hail 55476, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mohd Saeed
- Department
of Biology, College of Science, University
of Hail, Hail 55476, Saudi Arabia
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8
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Linciano P, Pozzi C, Tassone G, Landi G, Mangani S, Santucci M, Luciani R, Ferrari S, Santarem N, Tagliazucchi L, Cordeiro-da-Silva A, Tonelli M, Tondi D, Bertarini L, Gul S, Witt G, Moraes CB, Costantino L, Costi MP. The discovery of aryl-2-nitroethyl triamino pyrimidines as anti-Trypanosoma brucei agents. Eur J Med Chem 2024; 264:115946. [PMID: 38043491 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2023.115946] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2023] [Revised: 11/06/2023] [Accepted: 11/07/2023] [Indexed: 12/05/2023]
Abstract
Pteridine reductase 1 (PTR1) is a catalytic protein belonging to the folate metabolic pathway in Trypanosmatidic parasites. PTR1 is a known target for the medicinal chemistry development of antiparasitic agents against Trypanosomiasis and Leishmaniasis. In previous studies, new nitro derivatives were elaborated as PTR1 inhibitors. The compounds showing a diamino-pyrimidine core structure were previously developed but they showed limited efficacy. Therefore, a new class of phenyl-, heteroaryl- and benzyloxy-nitro derivatives based on the 2-nitroethyl-2,4,6-triaminopyrimidine scaffold were designed and tested. The compounds were assayed for their ability to inhibit T. brucei and L. major PTR1 enzymes and for their antiparasitic activity towards T. brucei and L. infantum parasites. To understand the structure-activity relationships of the compounds against TbPTR1, the X-ray crystallographic structure of the 2,4,6-triaminopyrimidine (TAP) was obtained and molecular modelling studies were performed. As a next step, only the most effective compounds against T. brucei were then tested against the amastigote cellular stage of T. cruzi, searching for a broad-spectrum antiprotozoal agent. An early ADME-Tox profile evaluation was performed. The early toxicity profile of this class of compounds was investigated by measuring their inhibition of hERG and five cytochrome P450 isoforms (CYP1A2, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2D6 and CYP3A4), cytotoxicity towards A549 cells and mitochondrial toxicity. Pharmacokinetic studies (SNAP-PK) were performed on selected compounds using hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrins (50 % w/v) to preliminarily study their plasma concentration when administered per os at a dose of 20 mg/kg. Compound 1p, showed the best pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic properties, can be considered a good candidate for further bioavailability and efficacy studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pasquale Linciano
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 103, 41125, Modena, Italy
| | - Cecilia Pozzi
- Department of Biotechnology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Siena, Via Aldo Moro 2, 53100, Siena, Italy; Institute for Research and Innovation in Health (i3S), University of Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugual
| | - Giusy Tassone
- Department of Biotechnology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Siena, Via Aldo Moro 2, 53100, Siena, Italy
| | - Giacomo Landi
- Department of Biotechnology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Siena, Via Aldo Moro 2, 53100, Siena, Italy
| | - Stefano Mangani
- Department of Biotechnology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Siena, Via Aldo Moro 2, 53100, Siena, Italy
| | - Matteo Santucci
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 103, 41125, Modena, Italy
| | - Rosaria Luciani
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 103, 41125, Modena, Italy
| | - Stefania Ferrari
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 103, 41125, Modena, Italy
| | - Nuno Santarem
- Institute for Research and Innovation in Health (i3S), University of Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugual; Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, Rua de Jorge ViterboFerreira 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
| | - Lorenzo Tagliazucchi
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 103, 41125, Modena, Italy; Clinical and Experimental Medicine (CEM) PhD Program, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 278, 41125, Modena, Italy
| | - Anabela Cordeiro-da-Silva
- Institute for Research and Innovation in Health (i3S), University of Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugual; Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, Rua de Jorge ViterboFerreira 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
| | - Michele Tonelli
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Genoa, Viale Benedetto XV, 3, 16132, Genoa, Italy
| | - Donatella Tondi
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 103, 41125, Modena, Italy
| | - Laura Bertarini
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 103, 41125, Modena, Italy
| | - Sheraz Gul
- Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology ITMP, Hamburg, Germany; Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence for Immune-Mediated Diseases CIMD, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Gesa Witt
- Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology ITMP, Hamburg, Germany; Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence for Immune-Mediated Diseases CIMD, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Carolina B Moraes
- Laboratório Nacional de Biociências (LNBio), Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais (CNPEM), 13083-100, Campinas, SP, Brazil
| | - Luca Costantino
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 103, 41125, Modena, Italy
| | - Maria Paola Costi
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 103, 41125, Modena, Italy.
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9
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Cruz MGFDML, Santi AMM, de Morais-Teixeira E, Caldeira ASP, de Siqueira EP, Oliveira E, Alves TMDA, Murta SMF. Anti- Leishmania compounds can be screened using Leishmania spp. expressing red fluorescence ( tdTomato). Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2024; 68:e0050923. [PMID: 38063403 PMCID: PMC10777850 DOI: 10.1128/aac.00509-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2023] [Accepted: 10/30/2023] [Indexed: 01/11/2024] Open
Abstract
The main challenges associated with leishmaniasis chemotherapy are drug toxicity, the possible emergence of resistant parasites, and a limited choice of therapeutic agents. Therefore, new drugs and assays to screen and detect novel active compounds against leishmaniasis are urgently needed. We thus validated Leishmania braziliensis (Lb) and Leishmania infantum (Li) that constitutively express the tandem tomato red fluorescent protein (tdTomato) as a model for large-scale screens of anti-Leishmania compounds. Confocal microscopy of Lb and Li::tdTomato revealed red fluorescence distributed throughout the entire parasite, including the flagellum, and flow cytometry confirmed that the parasites emitted intense fluorescence. We evaluated the infectivity of cloned promastigotes and amastigotes constitutively expressing tdTomato, their growth profiles in THP-1 macrophages, and susceptibility to trivalent antimony, amphotericin, and miltefosine in vitro. The phenotypes of mutant and wild-type parasites were similar, indicating that the constitutive expression of tdTomato did not interfere with the evaluated parameters. We applied our validated model to a repositioning strategy and assessed the susceptibility of the parasites to eight commercially available drugs. We also screened 32 natural plant and fungal extracts and 10 pure substances to reveal new active compounds. The infectivity and Glucantime treatment efficacy of BALB/c mice and golden hamsters infected with Lb and Li::tdTomato mutant lines, respectively, were very similar compared to animals infected with wild-type parasites. Standardizing our methodology would offer more rapid, less expensive, and easier assays to screen of compounds against L. braziliensis and L. infantum in vitro and in vivo. Our method could also enhance the discovery of active compounds for treating leishmaniasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariza Gabriela Faleiro de Moura Lodi Cruz
- Genômica Funcional de Parasitos, Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz FIOCRUZ Minas, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
- Química de Produtos Naturais Bioativos, Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz FIOCRUZ Minas, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Ana Maria Murta Santi
- Genômica Funcional de Parasitos, Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz FIOCRUZ Minas, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Eliane de Morais-Teixeira
- Pesquisa Clínica e Políticas Públicas em Doenças Infecto-Parasitárias, Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz FIOCRUZ Minas, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Alisson Samuel Portes Caldeira
- Química de Produtos Naturais Bioativos, Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz FIOCRUZ Minas, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Ezequias Pessoa de Siqueira
- Química de Produtos Naturais Bioativos, Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz FIOCRUZ Minas, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Edward Oliveira
- Genômica Funcional de Parasitos, Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz FIOCRUZ Minas, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Tânia Maria de Almeida Alves
- Química de Produtos Naturais Bioativos, Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz FIOCRUZ Minas, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Silvane Maria Fonseca Murta
- Genômica Funcional de Parasitos, Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz FIOCRUZ Minas, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
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10
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Vijayakumar S, Kumar LL, Borkotoky S, Murali A. The Application of MD Simulation to Lead Identification, Vaccine Design, and Structural Studies in Combat against Leishmaniasis - A Review. Mini Rev Med Chem 2024; 24:1089-1111. [PMID: 37680156 DOI: 10.2174/1389557523666230901105231] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2023] [Revised: 06/07/2023] [Accepted: 07/14/2023] [Indexed: 09/09/2023]
Abstract
Drug discovery, vaccine design, and protein interaction studies are rapidly moving toward the routine use of molecular dynamics simulations (MDS) and related methods. As a result of MDS, it is possible to gain insights into the dynamics and function of identified drug targets, antibody-antigen interactions, potential vaccine candidates, intrinsically disordered proteins, and essential proteins. The MDS appears to be used in all possible ways in combating diseases such as cancer, however, it has not been well documented as to how effectively it is applied to infectious diseases such as Leishmaniasis. As a result, this review aims to survey the application of MDS in combating leishmaniasis. We have systematically collected articles that illustrate the implementation of MDS in drug discovery, vaccine development, and structural studies related to Leishmaniasis. Of all the articles reviewed, we identified that only a limited number of studies focused on the development of vaccines against Leishmaniasis through MDS. Also, the PCA and FEL studies were not carried out in most of the studies. These two were globally accepted utilities to understand the conformational changes and hence it is recommended that this analysis should be taken up in similar approaches in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Subhomoi Borkotoky
- Department of Biotechnology, Invertis University, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Ayaluru Murali
- Department of Bioinformatics, Pondicherry University, Puducherry, India
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11
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Agarwal DS, Beteck RM, Ilbeigi K, Caljon G, Legoabe LJ. Design and synthesis of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine-chalcone conjugates as antikinetoplastid agents. Chem Biol Drug Des 2024; 103:e14400. [PMID: 37994272 DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.14400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2023] [Revised: 11/01/2023] [Accepted: 11/08/2023] [Indexed: 11/24/2023]
Abstract
A library of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine-appended chalcones were synthesized and characterized using 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR and HRMS. The synthesized analogues were screened for their antikinetoplastid activity against Trypanosoma cruzi, Trypanosoma brucei brucei, Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense and Leishmania infantum. The analogues were also tested for their cytotoxicity activity against human lung fibroblasts and primary mouse macrophages. Among all screened derivatives, 7f was found to be the most active against T. cruzi and T. b. brucei exhibiting IC50 values of 8.5 and 1.35 μM, respectively. Against T. b. rhodesiense, 7e was found to be the most active with an IC50 value of 1.13 μM. All synthesized active analogues were found to be non-cytotoxic against MRC-5 and PMM with selectivity indices of up to more than 50.
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Affiliation(s)
- Devesh S Agarwal
- Centre of Excellence for Pharmaceutical Sciences, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
| | - Richard M Beteck
- Centre of Excellence for Pharmaceutical Sciences, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
| | - Kayhan Ilbeigi
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Parasitology and Hygiene, Infla-med Centre of Excellence, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Guy Caljon
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Parasitology and Hygiene, Infla-med Centre of Excellence, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Lesetja J Legoabe
- Centre of Excellence for Pharmaceutical Sciences, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
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12
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de Moraes LS, Galué-Parra AJ, Hage AAP, Moura HA, Garcia MSA, Macêdo CG, Rodrigues APD, Guilhon GMSP, da Silva EO. In Vitro Leishmanicidal Activity of Copaiba Oil and Kojic Acid Combination on the Protozoan Leishmania (Leishmania) amazonensis and Host Cell. Microorganisms 2023; 11:2925. [PMID: 38138069 PMCID: PMC10745933 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms11122925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2023] [Revised: 11/18/2023] [Accepted: 11/23/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
(1) Background: Leishmaniasis refers to a group of anthropozoonotic diseases caused by Leishmania. The major chemotherapeutic agent used for its treatment is Glucantime®®, but the search continues for new compounds that are economically viable and act on the protozoan without causing damage to the host cell. As an alternative approach, this study used a combination of copaiba oil (CO) and kojic acid (KA) to determine their in vitro action on host cells, on the Leishmania (Leishmania) amazonensis protozoan and its interaction with macrophages. (2) Methods: In vitro culture, analysis of cytokine release and microscopy assays were performed. Statistical analysis was performed with ANOVA (GraphPad Prism). (3) Results: The combination did not induce cytotoxic effects on macrophages after treatment but promoted morphological changes in the protozoan, such as nuclear alterations (apoptotic characteristics), alterations in the cellular body and an increase in the number of electrodense structures and acidocalcisomes, observed mainly at the concentrations of CO20KA50 and CO30KA50 μg/mL. We observed reductions in the intracellular amastigote number and in the production of proinflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6 and TNF-α, after treatment with CO30KA at 50 µg/mL. (4) Conclusions: We report here, for the first time, that the combination of CO and KA may be a promising approach against Leishmania (Leishmania) amazonensis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lienne Silveira de Moraes
- Pharmaceutical Sciences Post Graduation Program, Health and Biological Sciences Department, Federal University of Amapa (UNIFAP), Macapa 68903-419, AP, Brazil;
- Laboratory of Structural Biology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Pará, Belém 66075-110, PA, Brazil; (A.J.G.-P.); (A.A.P.H.); (H.A.M.); (M.S.A.G.); (C.G.M.)
- National Institute of Science and Technology in Structural Biology and Bioimaging, Rio de Janeiro 21040-900, RJ, Brazil;
| | - Adan Jesús Galué-Parra
- Laboratory of Structural Biology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Pará, Belém 66075-110, PA, Brazil; (A.J.G.-P.); (A.A.P.H.); (H.A.M.); (M.S.A.G.); (C.G.M.)
| | - Amanda Anastácia Pinto Hage
- Laboratory of Structural Biology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Pará, Belém 66075-110, PA, Brazil; (A.J.G.-P.); (A.A.P.H.); (H.A.M.); (M.S.A.G.); (C.G.M.)
- National Institute of Science and Technology in Structural Biology and Bioimaging, Rio de Janeiro 21040-900, RJ, Brazil;
| | - Hévila Aragão Moura
- Laboratory of Structural Biology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Pará, Belém 66075-110, PA, Brazil; (A.J.G.-P.); (A.A.P.H.); (H.A.M.); (M.S.A.G.); (C.G.M.)
| | - Marcus Savio Araujo Garcia
- Laboratory of Structural Biology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Pará, Belém 66075-110, PA, Brazil; (A.J.G.-P.); (A.A.P.H.); (H.A.M.); (M.S.A.G.); (C.G.M.)
| | - Caroline Gomes Macêdo
- Laboratory of Structural Biology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Pará, Belém 66075-110, PA, Brazil; (A.J.G.-P.); (A.A.P.H.); (H.A.M.); (M.S.A.G.); (C.G.M.)
| | - Ana Paula Drummond Rodrigues
- National Institute of Science and Technology in Structural Biology and Bioimaging, Rio de Janeiro 21040-900, RJ, Brazil;
- Laboratory of Electron Microscopy, Evandro Chagas’s Institute, Department of Health Surveillance, Ministry of Health, Belém 70723-040, PA, Brazil
| | | | - Edilene Oliveira da Silva
- Laboratory of Structural Biology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Pará, Belém 66075-110, PA, Brazil; (A.J.G.-P.); (A.A.P.H.); (H.A.M.); (M.S.A.G.); (C.G.M.)
- National Institute of Science and Technology in Structural Biology and Bioimaging, Rio de Janeiro 21040-900, RJ, Brazil;
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13
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Sifontes-Rodríguez S, Escalona-Montaño AR, Sánchez-Almaraz DA, Pérez-Olvera O, Aguirre-García MM. Detergent-free parasite transformation and replication assay for drug screening against intracellular Leishmania amastigotes. J Microbiol Methods 2023; 215:106847. [PMID: 37871728 DOI: 10.1016/j.mimet.2023.106847] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2023] [Revised: 10/19/2023] [Accepted: 10/20/2023] [Indexed: 10/25/2023]
Abstract
Leishmaniasis is an infectious disease caused by protozoan species in the genera Leishmania and Endotrypanum. Current antileishmanial drugs are limited due to adverse effects, variable efficacy, the development of resistant parasites, high cost, parenteral administration and lack of availability in endemic areas. Therefore, active searching for new antileishmanial drugs has been done for years, mainly by academia. Drug screening techniques have been a challenge since the intracellular localization of Leishmania amastigotes implies that the host cell may interfere with the quantification of the parasites and the final estimation of the effect. One of the procedures to avoid host cell interference is based on its detergent-mediated lysis and subsequent transformation of viable amastigotes into promastigotes, their proliferation and eventual quantification as an axenic culture of promastigotes. However, the use of detergent involves additional handling of cultures and variability. In the present work, cultures of intracellular amastigotes were incubated for 72 h at 26 °C after exposure to the test compounds and the transformation and proliferation of parasites took place without need of adding any detergent. The assay demonstrated clear differentiation of negative and positive controls (average Z´ = 0.75) and 50% inhibitory concentrations of compounds tested by this method and by the gold standard enumeration of Giemsa-stained cultures were similar (p = 0.5002) and highly correlated (r = 0.9707). This simplified procedure is less labor intensive, the probability of contamination and the experimental error are reduced, and it is appropriate for the automated high throughput screening of compounds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergio Sifontes-Rodríguez
- División de Investigación, Facultad de Medicina, Unidad de Investigación UNAM-INC, Instituto Nacional de Cardiología Ignacio Chávez, Juan Badiano No. 1, Col. Sección XVI, Ciudad de México, C.P. 14080 Tlalpan, Mexico
| | - Alma Reyna Escalona-Montaño
- División de Investigación, Facultad de Medicina, Unidad de Investigación UNAM-INC, Instituto Nacional de Cardiología Ignacio Chávez, Juan Badiano No. 1, Col. Sección XVI, Ciudad de México, C.P. 14080 Tlalpan, Mexico
| | - Daniel Andrés Sánchez-Almaraz
- División de Investigación, Facultad de Medicina, Unidad de Investigación UNAM-INC, Instituto Nacional de Cardiología Ignacio Chávez, Juan Badiano No. 1, Col. Sección XVI, Ciudad de México, C.P. 14080 Tlalpan, Mexico
| | - Ofelia Pérez-Olvera
- División de Investigación, Facultad de Medicina, Unidad de Investigación UNAM-INC, Instituto Nacional de Cardiología Ignacio Chávez, Juan Badiano No. 1, Col. Sección XVI, Ciudad de México, C.P. 14080 Tlalpan, Mexico
| | - María Magdalena Aguirre-García
- División de Investigación, Facultad de Medicina, Unidad de Investigación UNAM-INC, Instituto Nacional de Cardiología Ignacio Chávez, Juan Badiano No. 1, Col. Sección XVI, Ciudad de México, C.P. 14080 Tlalpan, Mexico.
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14
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Tiwari R, Gupta RP, Singh VK, Kumar A, Rajneesh, Madhukar P, Sundar S, Gautam V, Kumar R. Nanotechnology-Based Strategies in Parasitic Disease Management: From Prevention to Diagnosis and Treatment. ACS OMEGA 2023; 8:42014-42027. [PMID: 38024747 PMCID: PMC10655914 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.3c04587] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2023] [Revised: 10/12/2023] [Accepted: 10/13/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023]
Abstract
Parasitic infections are a major global health issue causing significant mortality and morbidity. Despite substantial advances in the diagnostics and treatment of these diseases, the currently available options fall far short of expectations. From diagnosis and treatment to prevention and control, nanotechnology-based techniques show promise as an alternative approach. Nanoparticles can be designed with specific properties to target parasites and deliver antiparasitic medications and vaccines. Nanoparticles such as liposomes, nanosuspensions, polymer-based nanoparticles, and solid lipid nanoparticles have been shown to overcome limitations such as limited bioavailability, poor cellular permeability, nonspecific distribution, and rapid drug elimination from the body. These nanoparticles also serve as nanobiosensors for the early detection and treatment of these diseases. This review aims to summarize the potential applications of nanoparticles in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of parasitic diseases such as leishmaniasis, malaria, and trypanosomiasis. It also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of these applications and their market values and highlights the need for further research in this field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rahul Tiwari
- Centre
of Experimental Medicine & Surgery, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221 005, India
| | - Rohit P. Gupta
- Centre
of Experimental Medicine & Surgery, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221 005, India
- Applied
Microbiology, Department of Botany, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221 005, India
| | - Vishal K. Singh
- Centre
of Experimental Medicine & Surgery, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221 005, India
| | - Awnish Kumar
- Centre
of Experimental Medicine & Surgery, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221 005, India
| | - Rajneesh
- Centre
of Experimental Medicine & Surgery, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221 005, India
| | - Prasoon Madhukar
- Department
of Medicine, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221 005, India
| | - Shyam Sundar
- Department
of Medicine, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221 005, India
| | - Vibhav Gautam
- Centre
of Experimental Medicine & Surgery, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221 005, India
| | - Rajiv Kumar
- Centre
of Experimental Medicine & Surgery, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221 005, India
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15
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Silva JV, Sueyoshi S, Snape TJ, Lal S, Giarolla J. Pteridine reductase (PTR1): initial structure-activity relationships studies of potential leishmanicidal arylindole derivatives compounds. SAR AND QSAR IN ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2023; 34:661-687. [PMID: 37606690 DOI: 10.1080/1062936x.2023.2247331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2023] [Accepted: 07/08/2023] [Indexed: 08/23/2023]
Abstract
Leishmaniasis is a public health concern, especially in Brazil and India. The drugs available for therapy are old, cause toxicity and have reports of resistance. Therefore, this paper aimed to carry out initial structure-activity relationships (applying molecular docking and dynamic simulations) of arylindole scaffolds against the pteridine reductase (PTR1), which is essential target for the survival of the parasite. Thus, we used a series of 43 arylindole derivatives as a privileged skeleton, which have been evaluated previously for different biological actions. Compound 7 stood out among its analogues presenting the best results of average number of interactions with binding site (2.00) and catalytic triad (1.00). Additionally, the same compound presented the best binding free energy (-32.33 kcal/mol) in dynamic simulations. Furthermore, with computational studies, it was possible to comprehend and discuss the influences of the substituent sizes, positions of substitutions in the aromatic ring and electronic influences. Therefore, this study can be a starting point for the structural improvements needed to obtain a good leishmanicidal drug.
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Affiliation(s)
- J V Silva
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - S Sueyoshi
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - T J Snape
- Leicester School of Pharmacy, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK
| | - S Lal
- Amity Institute of Pharmacy, Amity University, Gurugram, India
| | - J Giarolla
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
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16
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Afonso RC, Yien RMK, de Siqueira LBDO, Simas NK, Dos Santos Matos AP, Ricci-Júnior E. Promising natural products for the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis: A review of in vitro and in vivo studies. Exp Parasitol 2023; 251:108554. [PMID: 37268108 DOI: 10.1016/j.exppara.2023.108554] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2023] [Revised: 04/04/2023] [Accepted: 05/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Although there are available treatments for cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), the drugs used are far from ideal, toxic, and costly, in addition to the challenge faced by the development of resistance. Plants have been used as a source of natural compounds with antileishmanial action. However, few have reached the market and become phytomedicines with registration in regulatory agencies. Difficulties related to the extraction, purification, chemical identification, efficacy, safety, and production in sufficient quantity for clinical studies, hinder the emergence of new effective phytomedicines against leishmaniasis. Despite the difficulties reported, the major research centers in the world see that natural products are a trend concerning the treatment of leishmaniasis. The present work consists of a literature review of articles with in vivo studies, covering the period from January 2011 to December 2022, providing an overview of promising natural products for CL treatment. The papers show encouraging antileishmanial action of natural compounds with reduced parasite load and lesion size in animal models, suggesting new strategies for the treatment of the disease. The results reported in this review show advances in using natural products as safe and effective formulations, which can stimulate clinical studies to establish clinical therapy. In conclusion, the information in this review article serves as a preliminary basis for establishing a therapeutic protocol for future clinical trials that can validate the safety and efficacy of natural compounds, providing the development of affordable and safe phytomedicines for the treatment of CL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rhuane Coutinho Afonso
- Galenic Development Laboratory (LADEG), Department of Drugs and Medicines, Faculty of Pharmacy, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Raíssa Mara Kao Yien
- Galenic Development Laboratory (LADEG), Department of Drugs and Medicines, Faculty of Pharmacy, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil; Laboratory of Natural Products and Biological Assays, Department of Natural Products and Food, Faculty of Pharmacy, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | | | - Naomi Kato Simas
- Laboratory of Natural Products and Biological Assays, Department of Natural Products and Food, Faculty of Pharmacy, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Ana Paula Dos Santos Matos
- Galenic Development Laboratory (LADEG), Department of Drugs and Medicines, Faculty of Pharmacy, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Eduardo Ricci-Júnior
- Galenic Development Laboratory (LADEG), Department of Drugs and Medicines, Faculty of Pharmacy, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
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17
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Dowling J, Doig CL. Roles of ADP-Ribosylation during Infection Establishment by Trypanosomatidae Parasites. Pathogens 2023; 12:pathogens12050708. [PMID: 37242378 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens12050708] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2023] [Revised: 05/08/2023] [Accepted: 05/09/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
ADP-ribosylation is a reversible post-translational protein modification, which is evolutionarily conserved in prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. It governs critical cellular functions, including, but not limited to cellular proliferation, differentiation, RNA translation, and genomic repair. The addition of one or multiple ADP-ribose moieties can be catalysed by poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) enzymes, while in eukaryotic organisms, ADP-ribosylation can be reversed through the action of specific enzymes capable of ADP-ribose signalling regulation. In several lower eukaryotic organisms, including Trypanosomatidae parasites, ADP-ribosylation is thought to be important for infection establishment. Trypanosomatidae encompasses several human disease-causing pathogens, including Trypanosoma cruzi, T. brucei, and the Leishmania genus. These parasites are the etiological agents of Chagas disease, African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), and leishmaniasis, respectively. Currently, licenced medications for these infections are outdated and often result in harmful side effects, and can be inaccessible to those carrying infections, due to them being classified as neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), meaning that many infected individuals will belong to already marginalised communities in countries already facing socioeconomic challenges. Consequently, funding to develop novel therapeutics for these infections is overlooked. As such, understanding the molecular mechanisms of infection, and how ADP-ribosylation facilitates infection establishment by these organisms may allow the identification of potential molecular interventions that would disrupt infection. In contrast to the complex ADP-ribosylation pathways in eukaryotes, the process of Trypanosomatidae is more linear, with the parasites only expressing one PARP enzyme, compared to the, at least, 17 genes that encode human PARP enzymes. If this simplified pathway can be understood and exploited, it may reveal new avenues for combatting Trypanosomatidae infection. This review will focus on the current state of knowledge on the importance of ADP-ribosylation in Trypanosomatidae during infection establishment in human hosts, and the potential therapeutic options that disrupting ADP-ribosylation may offer to combat Trypanosomatidae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua Dowling
- School of Science & Technology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham NG11 8NS, UK
| | - Craig L Doig
- School of Science & Technology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham NG11 8NS, UK
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18
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Ferreira BA, Coser EM, Saborito C, Yamashiro-Kanashiro EH, Lindoso JAL, Coelho AC. In vitro miltefosine and amphotericin B susceptibility of strains and clinical isolates of Leishmania species endemic in Brazil that cause tegumentary leishmaniasis. Exp Parasitol 2023; 246:108462. [PMID: 36642298 DOI: 10.1016/j.exppara.2023.108462] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2022] [Revised: 01/10/2023] [Accepted: 01/11/2023] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
Tegumentary leishmaniasis encompasses a spectrum of clinical manifestations caused by the parasitic protozoa of the genus Leishmania. In Brazil, there are at least seven Leishmania species that are endemic and responsible for this set of clinical manifestations of the disease. Current treatment is limited to a restricted number of drugs that in general have several drawbacks including parenteral use, toxicity, and severe side effects. Amphotericin B is considered a second-line drug for tegumentary leishmaniasis in Brazil, while miltefosine was recently approved for clinical use in the treatment of this disease. In this study, we investigated the in vitro susceptibility of Leishmania strains representative of the species endemic to Brazil, as well as a panel of thirteen clinical isolates of tegumentary leishmaniasis, to both amphotericin B and miltefosine. A moderate variation in the susceptibility to both drugs was found, where the EC50 values varied from 11.43 to 52.67 μM for miltefosine and from 12.89 to 62.36 nM for amphotericin B in promastigotes, while for the intracellular amastigotes, values ranged from 1.08 to 9.60 μM and from 1.69 to 22.71 nM for miltefosine and amphotericin B respectively. Furthermore, the clinical isolates and strains of the subgenus Viannia were evaluated for the presence of Leishmania RNA virus 1 (LRV1), as this is an important factor associated with disease severity and treatment outcome. These findings provide a preclinical dataset of the activity of these drugs against the causative species of tegumentary leishmaniasis in Brazil.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bianca A Ferreira
- Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil
| | - Elizabeth M Coser
- Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil
| | - Cristiele Saborito
- Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil
| | - Edite H Yamashiro-Kanashiro
- Laboratório de Soroepidemiologia e Imunobiologia, Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; Laboratório de Imunologia (LIM 48), Departamento de Moléstias Infecciosas e Parasitárias, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - José Angelo L Lindoso
- Laboratório de Protozoologia, Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo, Departamento de Moléstias Infecciosas e Parasitárias, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; Instituto de Infectologia Emilio Ribas, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Adriano C Coelho
- Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil.
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Pimentel DC, Leopoldo JR, Teixeira LF, Barros MVDA, de Souza APM, Onofre TS, de Carvalho RL, Machado SA, Messias IG, Pinto CCDS, Poleto MD, Diogo MA, Mariotini-Moura C, Bressan GC, Teixeira RR, Fietto JLR, Vasconcellos RDS. First evidence of a serine arginine protein kinase (SRPK) in leishmania braziliensis and its potential as therapeutic target. Acta Trop 2023; 238:106801. [PMID: 36563831 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2022.106801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2022] [Revised: 12/17/2022] [Accepted: 12/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease found in tropical and subtropical regions around the world, caused by parasites of the genus Leishmania. The disease is a public health concern and presents clinical manifestations that can cause death, disability, and mutilation. The parasite has promastigote (vector) and amastigote (vertebrate host) forms and kinase enzymes are involved in this differentiation process. In the present investigation, we show, for the first time, evidence of a serine/arginine protein kinase in Leshmania braziliensis (LbSRPK). Our results show that amastigotes express more LbSRPK than promastigotes. Analogues of SRPIN340 (a known inhibitor of SRPK) were evaluated for their leishmanicidal activity and two of them, namely SRVIC22 and SRVIC32 showed important leishmanicidal activity in vitro. SRVIC22 and SRVIC32 were able to reduce the infection rate in macrophages and the number of intracellular amastigotes by 55 and 60%, respectively. Bioinformatics analysis revealed the existence of two different amino acid residues in the active site of LbSRPK compared to their human homologue (Tyr/Leu-and Ser/Tyr), which could explain the absence of leishmanicidal activity of SRPIN340 on infected macrophages. In order to enhance leishmanicidal activity of the analogues, optimizations were proposed in the structures of the ligands, suggesting strong interactions with the catalytic site of LbSRPK. Although the evidence on the action of inhibitors upon LbSRPK is only indirect, our studies not only reveal, for the first time, evidence of a SRPK in Leishmania, but also shed light on a new therapeutic target for drug development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Débora Cristina Pimentel
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Av. P. H. Rolfs, s/n, Campus Universitário, CEP, Viçosa, MG 36570-900, Brazil
| | - Juliana Rodrigues Leopoldo
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Av. P. H. Rolfs, s/n, Campus Universitário, CEP, Viçosa, MG 36570-900, Brazil
| | - Leilane Ferreira Teixeira
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Av. P. H. Rolfs, s/n, Campus Universitário, CEP, Viçosa, MG 36570-900, Brazil
| | - Marcus Vinícius de Andrade Barros
- Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Av. P. H. Rolfs, s/n, Campus Universitário, CEP, Viçosa, MG 36570-900, Brazil
| | - Ana Paula Martins de Souza
- Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Av. P. H. Rolfs, s/n, Campus Universitário, CEP, Viçosa, MG 36570-900, Brazil
| | - Thiago Souza Onofre
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Rayane Luiza de Carvalho
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Av. P. H. Rolfs, s/n, Campus Universitário, CEP, Viçosa, MG 36570-900, Brazil
| | - Sara Andrade Machado
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Av. P. H. Rolfs, s/n, Campus Universitário, CEP, Viçosa, MG 36570-900, Brazil
| | - Isabelly Gonçalves Messias
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Av. P. H. Rolfs, s/n, Campus Universitário, CEP, Viçosa, MG 36570-900, Brazil
| | - Carla Cristina de Souza Pinto
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Av. P. H. Rolfs, s/n, Campus Universitário, CEP, Viçosa, MG 36570-900, Brazil
| | - Marcelo Depolo Poleto
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Av. P. H. Rolfs, s/n, Campus Universitário, CEP, Viçosa, MG 36570-900, Brazil
| | - Marcel Arruda Diogo
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Av. P. H. Rolfs, s/n, Campus Universitário, CEP, Viçosa, MG 36570-900, Brazil
| | - Christiane Mariotini-Moura
- FAMINAS Muriaé, Bairro Universitário Muriaé, Av. Cristiano Ferreira Varella, 655, CEP, MG 36888-233, Brazil
| | - Gustavo Costa Bressan
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Av. P. H. Rolfs, s/n, Campus Universitário, CEP, Viçosa, MG 36570-900, Brazil
| | - Robson Ricardo Teixeira
- Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Av. P. H. Rolfs, s/n, Campus Universitário, CEP, Viçosa, MG 36570-900, Brazil
| | - Juliana Lopes Rangel Fietto
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Av. P. H. Rolfs, s/n, Campus Universitário, CEP, Viçosa, MG 36570-900, Brazil
| | - Raphael de Souza Vasconcellos
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Av. P. H. Rolfs, s/n, Campus Universitário, CEP, Viçosa, MG 36570-900, Brazil.
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20
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Meira RDMV, Gomes SLDS, Schaeffer E, Da Silva T, Brito ACDS, Siqueira LM, Inácio JD, Almeida-Amaral EE, Da-Cruz AM, Bezerra-Paiva M, Neves RH, Rodrigues LS, Dutra PML, Costa PRR, da Silva AJM, Da-Silva SAG. Low doses of 3-phenyl-lawsone or meglumine antimoniate delivery by tattooing route are successful in reducing parasite load in cutaneous lesions of Leishmania ( Viannia) braziliensis-infected hamsters. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2023; 13:1025359. [PMID: 36743305 PMCID: PMC9892647 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1025359] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2022] [Accepted: 01/02/2023] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Current therapeutic ways adopted for the treatment of leishmaniasis are toxic and expensive including parasite resistance is a growing problem. Given this scenario, it is urgent to explore treatment alternatives for leishmaniasis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of 3-phenyl-lawsone (3-PL) naphthoquinone on Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis infection, both in vitro and in vivo, using two local routes of administration: subcutaneous (higher dose) and tattoo (lower dose). In vitro 3-PL showed low toxicity for macrophages (CC50 >3200 µM/48h) and activity against intracellular amastigotes (IC50 = 193 ± 19 µM/48h) and promastigotes (IC50 = 116 ± 26 µM/72h), in which induced increased ROS generation. Additionally, 3-PL up-regulated the production of cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and IL-10 in infected macrophages. However, the anti-amastigote action was independent of nitric oxide production. Treatment of hamsters infected with L. (V.) braziliensis from one week after infection with 3-PL by subcutaneous (25 µg/Kg) or tattooing (2.5 µg/Kg) route, during 3 weeks (3 times/week) or 2 weeks (2 times/week) significantly decreased the parasite load (p<0.001) in the lesion. The reduction of parasite load by 3-PL treatment was comparable to reference drug meglumine antimoniate administered by the same routes (subcutaneous 1mg/Kg and tattoo 0.1mg/Kg). In addition, treatment started from five weeks after infection with 3-PL per tattoo also decreased the parasite load. These results show the anti-leishmanial effect of 3-PL against L. (V.) braziliensis and its efficacy by subcutaneous (higher dose) and tattoo (lower dose) routes. In addition, this study shows that drug delivery by tattooing the lesion allows the use of lower doses than the conventional subcutaneous route, which may support the development of a new therapeutic strategy that can be adopted for leishmaniasis.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sara Lins da Silva Gomes
- Laboratório de Catálise Orgânica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Edgar Schaeffer
- Laboratório de Catálise Orgânica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Thayssa Da Silva
- Laboratório de Imunofarmacologia Parasitária, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | | | - Larissa Moreira Siqueira
- Laboratório de Imunofarmacologia Parasitária, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Job Domingos Inácio
- Laboratório de Bioquímica de Tripanosomatídeos, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | | | - Alda Maria Da-Cruz
- Disciplina de Parasitologia, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,Laboratório Interdisciplinar de Pesquisas Médicas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Milla Bezerra-Paiva
- Laboratório Interdisciplinar de Pesquisas Médicas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Renata Heisler Neves
- Laboratório de Helmintologia Romero Lascasas Porto, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Luciana Silva Rodrigues
- Laboratório de Imunopatologia, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | | | | | | | - Silvia Amaral Gonçalves Da-Silva
- Laboratório de Imunofarmacologia Parasitária, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,*Correspondence: Silvia Amaral Gonçalves Da-Silva,
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21
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Sabt A, Eldehna WM, Ibrahim TM, Bekhit AA, Batran RZ. New antileishmanial quinoline linked isatin derivatives targeting DHFR-TS and PTR1: Design, synthesis, and molecular modeling studies. Eur J Med Chem 2023; 246:114959. [PMID: 36493614 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2022.114959] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2022] [Revised: 11/13/2022] [Accepted: 11/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
In a search for new drug candidates for one of the neglected tropical diseases, leishmaniasis, twenty quinoline-isatin hybrids were synthesized and tested for their in vitro antileishmanial activity against Leishmaniamajor strain. All the synthesized compounds showed promising in vitro activity against the promastigote form in a low micromolar range (IC50 = 0.5084-5.9486 μM) superior to the reference miltefosine (IC50 = 7.8976 μM). All the target compounds were then tested against the intracellular amastigote form and showed promising inhibition effects (IC50 = 0.60442-8.2948 μM versus 8.08 μM for miltefosine). Compounds 4e, 4b and 4f were shown to possess the highest antileishmanial activity against both promastigote and amastigote forms. The most active compounds were proven to exhibit their significant antileishmanial effects through antifolate mechanism, targeting DHFR-TS and PTR1. To evaluate the safety profile of the most active derivatives 4e, 4b and 4f, the in vitro cytotoxicity test was carried out and displayed higher selectivity indices than the reference miltefosine. Molecular docking within putative target protein PTR1 confirmed the high potentiality of the most active compounds 4e, 4b and 4f to block the catalytic activity of Lm-PTR1.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ahmed Sabt
- Chemistry of Natural Compounds Department, Pharmaceutical and Drug Industries Research Institute, National Research Centre, Dokki, Cairo, 12622, Egypt
| | - Wagdy M Eldehna
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafrelsheikh, 33516, Egypt; School of Biotechnology, Badr University in Cairo, Badr City, 11829, Egypt
| | - Tamer M Ibrahim
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafrelsheikh, 33516, Egypt; Bioinformatics Group, Center for Informatics Sciences (CIS), School of Information Technology and Computer Science (ITCS), Nile University, Giza, Egypt
| | - Adnan A Bekhit
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Alexandria University, Alexandria, 21521, Egypt; Pharmacy Program, Allied Health Department, College of Health Sciences, University of Bahrain, P.O. Box 32038, Bahrain
| | - Rasha Z Batran
- Chemistry of Natural Compounds Department, Pharmaceutical and Drug Industries Research Institute, National Research Centre, Dokki, Cairo, 12622, Egypt.
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22
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Gopu B, Kour P, Pandian R, Singh K. Insights into the drug screening approaches in leishmaniasis. Int Immunopharmacol 2023; 114:109591. [PMID: 36700771 DOI: 10.1016/j.intimp.2022.109591] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2022] [Revised: 11/25/2022] [Accepted: 12/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Leishmaniasis, a tropically neglected disease, is responsible for the high mortality and morbidity ratio in poverty-stricken areas. Currently, no vaccine is available for the complete cure of the disease. Current chemotherapeutic regimens face the limitations of drug resistance and toxicity concerns indicating a great need to develop better chemotherapeutic leads that are orally administrable, potent, non-toxic, and cost-effective. The anti-leishmanial drug discovery process accelerated the desire for large-scale drug screening assays and high-throughput screening (HTS) technology to identify new chemo-types that can be used as potential drug molecules to control infection. Using the HTS approach, about one million compounds can be screened daily within the shortest possible time for biological activity using automation tools, miniaturized assay formats, and large-scale data analysis. Classical and modern in vitro screening assays have led to the progression of active compounds further to ex vivo and in vivo studies. In the present review, we emphasized on the HTS approaches employed in the leishmanial drug discovery program. Recent in vitro screening assays are widely explored to discover new chemical scaffolds. Developing appropriate experimental animal models and their related techniques is necessary to understand the pathophysiological processes and disease host responses, paving the way for unraveling novel therapies against leishmaniasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Boobalan Gopu
- Animal House Facility, Pharmacology Division, CSIR- Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu 180001, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India.
| | - Parampreet Kour
- Infectious Diseases Division, CSIR- Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu 180001, India
| | - Ramajayan Pandian
- Animal House Facility, Pharmacology Division, CSIR- Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu 180001, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India
| | - Kuljit Singh
- Infectious Diseases Division, CSIR- Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu 180001, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India.
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23
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Emiliano YSS, Almeida-Amaral EE. Apigenin is a promising molecule for treatment of visceral leishmaniasis. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2023; 13:1066407. [PMID: 37091674 PMCID: PMC10113494 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1066407] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2022] [Accepted: 03/07/2023] [Indexed: 04/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Current treatment for visceral leishmaniasis is based on drugs such as pentavalent antimony and amphotericin B. However, this treatment remains mostly ineffective and expensive, resulting in several side effects and generating resistance. Apigenin, a flavonoid present in fruits and vegetables, has demonstrated several biological functions. In the present study, we observed a concentration-dependent inhibition of the L. infantum promastigote in the presence of apigenin, exhibiting an IC50 value of 29.9 µM. Its effect was also evaluated in L. infantum-infected murine peritoneal macrophages, presenting an C50 value against intracellular amastigotes of 2.3 µM and a selectivity index of 34.3. In a murine model of visceral leishmaniasis, the in vivo effect of apigenin was measured using short-term and long-term treatment schemes. Treatment with apigenin demonstrated 99.7% and 94% reductions in the liver parasite load in the short-term and long-term treatment schemes, respectively. Furthermore, no alterations in serological and hematological parameters were observed. Taken together, these results suggest that apigenin is a potential candidate for visceral leishmaniasis chemotherapy by oral administration.
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Feng M, Jin Y, Yang S, Joachim AM, Ning Y, Mori-Quiroz LM, Fromm J, Perera C, Zhang K, Werbovetz KA, Wang MZ. Sterol profiling of Leishmania parasites using a new HPLC-tandem mass spectrometry-based method and antifungal azoles as chemical probes reveals a key intermediate sterol that supports a branched ergosterol biosynthetic pathway. Int J Parasitol Drugs Drug Resist 2022; 20:27-42. [PMID: 35994895 PMCID: PMC9418051 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpddr.2022.07.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2022] [Revised: 07/27/2022] [Accepted: 07/31/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Human leishmaniasis is an infectious disease caused by Leishmania protozoan parasites. Current chemotherapeutic options against the deadly disease have significant limitations. The ergosterol biosynthetic pathway has been identified as a drug target in Leishmania. However, remarkable differences in the efficacy of antifungal azoles that inhibit ergosterol biosynthesis have been reported for the treatment of leishmaniasis. To better understand the sterol biosynthetic pathway in Leishmania and elucidate the mechanism underlying the differential efficacy of antifungal azoles, we developed a new LC-MS/MS method to study sterol profiles in promastigotes of three Leishmania species, including two L. donovani, one L. major and one L. tarentolae strains. A combination of distinct precursor ion masses and LC retention times allowed for specific detection of sixteen intermediate sterols between lanosterol and ergosterol using the newly developed LC-MS/MS method. Although both posaconazole and fluconazole are known inhibitors of fungal lanosterol 14α-demethylase (CYP51), only posaconazole led to a substantial accumulation of lanosterol in azole-treated L. donovani promastigotes. Furthermore, a key intermediate sterol accumulated by 40- and 7-fold when these parasites were treated with posaconazole and fluconazole, respectively, which was determined as 4α,14α-dimethylzymosterol by high resolution mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy. The identification of 4α,14α-dimethylzymosterol supports a branched ergosterol biosynthetic pathway in Leishmania, where lanosterol C4- and C14-demethylation reactions occur in parallel rather than sequentially. Our results suggest that selective inhibition of leishmanial CYP51 is insufficient to effectively prevent parasite growth and dual inhibitors of both CYP51 and the unknown sterol C4-demethylase may be required for optimal antiparasitic effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mei Feng
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
| | - Yiru Jin
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
| | - Sihyung Yang
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
| | - Arline M Joachim
- Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Yu Ning
- Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, 79409, USA
| | - Luis M Mori-Quiroz
- Synthetic Chemical Biology Core Laboratory, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
| | - Jacob Fromm
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
| | - Chamani Perera
- Synthetic Chemical Biology Core Laboratory, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
| | - Kai Zhang
- Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, 79409, USA
| | - Karl A Werbovetz
- Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Michael Zhuo Wang
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA.
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25
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Chemical Constituents from Uapaca guineensis (Phyllanthaceae), and the Computational Validation of Their Antileishmanial and Anti-inflammatory Potencies. J CHEM-NY 2022. [DOI: 10.1155/2022/7087110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
From the chemical investigations of the root bark of Uapaca guineensis, nine distinct compounds (1–9) have been isolated and characterized as lupeol, betulin, betulinic acid, β-amyryl acetate, physcion, quercetin, rutin, β-sitosterol, and β-sitosterol-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, respectively. The structures of all the isolated compounds have been established using their NMR data as well as the comparison of those data with the ones reported in the literature. Interestingly, to the best of our knowledge, except for the lupane-type triterpenoids (1–3) and compounds 4 and 9, all the other compounds are reported for the first time from this genus. Since the plant is widely used for the treatment of skin diseases, leishmaniasis and inflammatory diseases, the antileishmanial and anti-inflammatory potencies of all the isolated compounds have been computationally validated through their ability to inhibit the receptors 1QCC and 2XOX (for the antileishmanial studies) and 6Y3C and 1CX2 (for the anti-inflammatory studies). Furthermore, the ADMET studies of compounds have been done to evaluate their drug-likeness. Results demonstrate that all the isolated compounds showed a better affinity for both receptors’ binding sites than the standard drugs miltefosine and aspirin. Moreover, the compounds would not cause addiction when used as lead molecules whereas, aspirin is predicted to violate the BBB over a long term of usage as a drug. This study gives additional information on the chemistry of U. guineensis and its classification as a potential source of good leads for the development of potent antileishmanial and anti-inflammatory drugs.
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26
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Baharvandi Z, Salimi A, Arjmand R, Jelowdar A, Rafiei A. Evaluation of the Efficacy of Amphotericin B and Terbinafine Microemulsions and Their Combination on Cutaneous Leishmaniasis and Comparison with the Conventional Drug Form in BALB/c Mice. AAPS PharmSciTech 2022; 23:280. [PMID: 36241959 DOI: 10.1208/s12249-022-02435-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2022] [Accepted: 09/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Intracellular parasitic protozoa of Leishmania sp. causes leishmaniasis. The restricted access of the drugs to affected cells in the treatment of intracellular infections such as leishmaniasis is frequently hampered. Furthermore, most of today's drugs have limited uses due to some containing toxic compounds, and drug resistance is on the rise. In the present investigation, Amphotericin B (AmB) and Terbinafine (Tbf) were loaded in microemulsion (ME) in combination and alone, and the in vivo efficacy was considered in BALB/c mice infected with Leishmania major (L. major). The wound size at the base of the mouse tail was measured, and real-time PCR was performed to quantify the parasite load after the infection challenge. The study demonstrated that the ME-AmB and ME-Tbf formulations are safe and effective compounds for the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis by enhancing the effectiveness of AmB and Tbf in reducing the parasite burden.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zeynab Baharvandi
- Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Center, Health Research Institute, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.,Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
| | - Anayatollah Salimi
- Nanotechnology Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.,Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
| | - Reza Arjmand
- Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
| | - Ali Jelowdar
- Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Center, Health Research Institute, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran. .,Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.
| | - Abdollah Rafiei
- Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Center, Health Research Institute, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.,Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
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27
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Machin L, Piontek M, Todhe S, Staniek K, Monzote L, Fudickar W, Linker T, Gille L. Antileishmanial Anthracene Endoperoxides: Efficacy In Vitro, Mechanisms and Structure-Activity Relationships. Molecules 2022; 27:6846. [PMID: 36296439 PMCID: PMC9612231 DOI: 10.3390/molecules27206846] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2022] [Revised: 10/10/2022] [Accepted: 10/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease caused by protozoal Leishmania parasites. Previous studies have shown that endoperoxides (EP) can selectively kill Leishmania in host cells. Therefore, we studied in this work a set of new anthracene-derived EP (AcEP) together with their non-endoperoxidic analogs in model systems of Leishmania tarentolae promastigotes (LtP) and J774 macrophages for their antileishmanial activity and selectivity. The mechanism of effective compounds was explored by studying their reaction with iron (II) in chemical systems and in Leishmania. The correlation of structural parameters with activity demonstrated that in this compound set, active compounds had a LogPOW larger than 3.5 and a polar surface area smaller than 100 Å2. The most effective compounds (IC50 in LtP < 2 µM) with the highest selectivity (SI > 30) were pyridyl-/tert-butyl-substituted AcEP. Interestingly, also their analogs demonstrated activity and selectivity. In mechanistic studies, it was shown that EP were activated by iron in chemical systems and in LtP due to their EP group. However, the molecular structure beyond the EP group significantly contributed to their differential mitochondrial inhibition in Leishmania. The identified compound pairs are a good starting point for subsequent experiments in pathogenic Leishmania in vitro and in animal models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Machin
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Veterinary Medicine, 1210 Vienna, Austria
- Pharmacy Department, Institute of Pharmacy and Food Sciences, University of Havana, Havana 13600, Cuba
| | - Martin Piontek
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Veterinary Medicine, 1210 Vienna, Austria
| | - Sara Todhe
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Veterinary Medicine, 1210 Vienna, Austria
| | - Katrin Staniek
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Veterinary Medicine, 1210 Vienna, Austria
| | - Lianet Monzote
- Parasitology Department, Institute of Tropical Medicine “Pedro Kouri”, Havana 11400, Cuba
| | - Werner Fudickar
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, University of Potsdam, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
| | - Torsten Linker
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, University of Potsdam, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
| | - Lars Gille
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Veterinary Medicine, 1210 Vienna, Austria
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28
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Li H, Ji T, Sun Q, Chen Y, Xu W, Huang C. Structural insights into selective inhibition of leishmanial GDP-mannose pyrophosphorylase. Cell Discov 2022; 8:83. [PMID: 36038534 PMCID: PMC9424295 DOI: 10.1038/s41421-022-00424-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2022] [Accepted: 05/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Hang Li
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Membraneless Organelles & Cellular Dynamics, School of Life Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Tuo Ji
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Membraneless Organelles & Cellular Dynamics, School of Life Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Qi Sun
- Jiangxi Key Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, Jiangxi Science and Technology Normal University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China
| | - Yao Chen
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Membraneless Organelles & Cellular Dynamics, School of Life Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China
| | - Weiya Xu
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Membraneless Organelles & Cellular Dynamics, School of Life Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China.
| | - Chengdong Huang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Membraneless Organelles & Cellular Dynamics, School of Life Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China.
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29
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Viana SM, Montoya AL, Carvalho AM, de Mendonça BS, Portillo S, Olivas JJ, Karimi NH, Estevao IL, Ortega-Rodriguez U, Carvalho EM, Dutra WO, Maldonaldo RA, Michael K, de Oliveira CI, Almeida IC. Serodiagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of New-World tegumentary leishmaniasis using synthetic type-2 glycoinositolphospholipid-based neoglycoproteins. Emerg Microbes Infect 2022; 11:2147-2159. [PMID: 36039908 PMCID: PMC9518598 DOI: 10.1080/22221751.2022.2114852] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
American tegumentary leishmaniasis (TL) caused by Leishmania braziliensis is characterized by a spectrum of clinical presentations, ranging from localized cutaneous ulcers (CL), mucosal (ML), or disseminated (DL) disease, to a subclinical (SC) asymptomatic form. Current diagnosis based on parasite culture and/or microscopy lacks sensitivity and specificity. Previous studies showed that patients with CL and ML have very high levels of Leishmania-specific anti-α-Gal antibodies. However, the native parasite α-Gal glycotope(s) is(are) still elusive, thus they have not yet been explored for a more accurate TL diagnosis. Using a chemiluminescent immunoassay, we evaluated the seroreactivity of TL patients across its clinical spectrum, and of endemic (EC) and nonendemic healthy controls (NEC) against three synthetic neoglycoproteins (NGP29b, NGP30b, and NGP28b), respectively comprising the L. major-derived type-2 glycoinositolphospholipid (GIPL)-1 (Galfβ1,3Manα), GIPL-2 (Galα1,3Galfβ1,3Manα), and GIPL-3 (Galα1,6Galα1,3Galfβ) glycotopes. Contrary to NGP29b and NGP30b, NGP28b exhibited high sensitivity and specificity to a CL serum pool. More importantly, NGP28b reacted strongly and specifically with individual sera from distinct clinical forms of TL, especially with SC sera, with 94% sensitivity and 97% specificity, by post-two-graph receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis. Contrary to NGP29b, NGP28b showed low cross-reactivity with Chagas disease and control (NEC/EC) sera. Additionally, seroreactivity of CL patients against NGP28b was significantly decreased after successful chemotherapy, indicating that L. braziliensis-specific anti-α-Gal antibodies may serve as an early biomarker of cure in CL. Our data also points towards the applicability of L. major type-2 GIPL-3-derived Galα1,6Galα1,3Galfβ glycotope for the serological diagnosis of American TL, particularly of the subclinical form.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sayonara M Viana
- Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Salvador, BA, Brazil
| | - Alba L Montoya
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Border Biomedical Research Center, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas, U.S.A
| | - Augusto M Carvalho
- Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Salvador, BA, Brazil
| | | | - Susana Portillo
- Department of Biological Sciences, Border Biomedical Research Center, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas, U.S.A
| | - Janet J Olivas
- Department of Biological Sciences, Border Biomedical Research Center, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas, U.S.A
| | - Nasim H Karimi
- Department of Biological Sciences, Border Biomedical Research Center, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas, U.S.A
| | - Igor L Estevao
- Department of Biological Sciences, Border Biomedical Research Center, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas, U.S.A
| | - Uriel Ortega-Rodriguez
- Department of Biological Sciences, Border Biomedical Research Center, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas, U.S.A
| | - Edgar M Carvalho
- Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Salvador, BA, Brazil.,Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia de Doenças Tropicais, Salvador, BA, Brazil
| | - Walderez O Dutra
- Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia de Doenças Tropicais, Salvador, BA, Brazil.,Departamento de Morfologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
| | - Rosa A Maldonaldo
- Department of Biological Sciences, Border Biomedical Research Center, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas, U.S.A
| | - Katja Michael
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Border Biomedical Research Center, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas, U.S.A
| | - Camila I de Oliveira
- Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Salvador, BA, Brazil.,Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia de Doenças Tropicais, Salvador, BA, Brazil
| | - Igor C Almeida
- Department of Biological Sciences, Border Biomedical Research Center, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas, U.S.A
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30
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Shah SI, Nasir F, Malik NS, Alamzeb M, Abbas M, Rehman IU, Khuda F, Shah Y, Goh KW, Zeb A, Ming LC. Efficacy Evaluation of 10-Hydroxy Chondrofoline and Tafenoquine against Leishmania tropica (HTD7). Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2022; 15:ph15081005. [PMID: 36015153 PMCID: PMC9415556 DOI: 10.3390/ph15081005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2022] [Revised: 07/09/2022] [Accepted: 07/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Leishmaniasis is affirmed as a category one disease (most emerging and unmanageable) by the World Health Organization (WHO), affecting 98 countries with an annual global incidence of ~1.2 million cases. Options for chemotherapeutic treatment are limited due to drug resistance and cytotoxicity. Thus, the search for new chemical compounds is instantly desirable. In this study, we used two compounds, i.e., 10-hydroxy chondrofoline and tafenoquine, for their antileishmanial activity against L. tropica (HTD7). First, the cytotoxicity assay of the test compounds against THP-1 cells was carried out, and these compounds were found safe. Intra-THP-1 amastigote activity (in vitro) was performed, which was then followed by the in vivo activity of 10-hydroxy chondrofoline in the murine cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) model. A total of three concentrations were used, i.e., 25, 50, and 100 µM, to check the in vitro activity of the test compounds against the amastigotes. 10-hydroxy chondrofoline was found to be the most potent compound in vitro (and thus was selected for in vivo studies) with an LD50 value of 43.80 µM after 48 h incubation, whilst tafenoquine had an LD50 value of 53.57 µM. In vivo activity was conducted by injecting 10-hydroxy chondrofoline in the left hind foot of the infected BALB/c mice, where it caused a statistically significant 58.3% (F = 14.18; p = 0.002) reduction in lesion size (0.70 ± 0.03 mm) when compared with negative control (1.2 ± 0.3 mm).
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Affiliation(s)
- Sayyed Ibrahim Shah
- Department of Pharmacy, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 23200, Pakistan
- Correspondence: (S.I.S.); (L.C.M.)
| | - Fazli Nasir
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 25100, Pakistan
| | - Nadia Shamshad Malik
- Faculty of Pharmacy, Capital University of Science and Technology, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Alamzeb
- Department of Chemistry, University of Kotli, Kotli 11100, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Abbas
- Department of Pharmacy, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 23200, Pakistan
| | - Inayat Ur Rehman
- Department of Pharmacy, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 23200, Pakistan
| | - Fazli Khuda
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 25100, Pakistan
| | - Yasir Shah
- Department of Pharmacy, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 23200, Pakistan
| | - Khang Weh Goh
- Faculty of Data Science and Information Technology, INTI International University, Nilai 71800, Malaysia
| | - Alam Zeb
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Malakand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 18800, Pakistan
| | - Long Chiau Ming
- PAP Rashidah Sa’adatul Bolkiah Institute of Health Sciences, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Gadong BE1410, Brunei
- Correspondence: (S.I.S.); (L.C.M.)
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31
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de Macedo-Silva ST, Visbal G, Souza GF, Dos Santos MR, Cämmerer SB, de Souza W, Rodrigues JCF. Benzylamines as highly potent inhibitors of the sterol biosynthesis pathway in Leishmania amazonensis leading to oxidative stress and ultrastructural alterations. Sci Rep 2022; 12:11313. [PMID: 35788652 PMCID: PMC9253131 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-15449-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2021] [Accepted: 06/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Leishmaniasis is a neglected disease caused by protozoan parasites of the Leishmania genus. Benzylamines are a class of compounds selectively designed to inhibit the squalene synthase (SQS) that catalyzes the first committed reaction on the sterol biosynthesis pathway. Herein, we studied seven new benzylamines (SBC 37–43) against Leishmania amazonensis. After the first screening of cell viability, two inhibitors (SBC 39 and SBC 40) were selected. Against intracellular amastigotes, SBC 39 and SBC 40 presented selectivity indexes of 117.7 and 180, respectively, indicating high selectivity. Analysis of the sterol composition revealed a depletion of endogenous 24-alkylated sterols such as episterol and 5-dehydroepisterol, with a concomitant accumulation of fecosterol, implying a disturbance in cellular lipid content. This result suggests a blockade of de novo sterol synthesis at the level of SQS and C-5 desaturase. Furthermore, physiological analysis and electron microscopy revealed three main alterations: (1) in the mitochondrion; (2) the presence of lipid bodies and autophagosomes; and (3) the appearance of projections in the plasma membrane. In conclusion, our results support the notion that benzylamines have a potent effect against Leishmania amazonensis and should be an exciting novel pharmaceutical lead for developing new chemotherapeutic alternatives to treat leishmaniasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Teixeira de Macedo-Silva
- Laboratório de Ultraestrutura Celular Hertha Meyer, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.,Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia de Biologia Estrutural e Bioimagem, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.,Centro Nacional de Biologia Estrutural e Bioimagem, CENABIO, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Gonzalo Visbal
- Instituto Nacional de Metrologia, Qualidade e Tecnologia, Inmetro, Brazil
| | | | | | - Simon B Cämmerer
- Instituto de Química, Departamento de Química Orgânica, UNICAMP, Campinas, Brazil
| | - Wanderley de Souza
- Laboratório de Ultraestrutura Celular Hertha Meyer, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.,Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia de Biologia Estrutural e Bioimagem, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Juliany Cola Fernandes Rodrigues
- Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia de Biologia Estrutural e Bioimagem, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. .,Núcleo Multidisciplinar de Pesquisa em Biologia, Divisão Biologia (NUMPEX-BIO), Campus UFRJ-Duque de Caxias Prof. Geraldo Cidade, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rodovia Washington Luiz, n. 19.593, km 104.5-Santa Cruz da Serra, Duque de Caxias, RJ, 25.240-005, Brazil.
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32
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Gouveia ALA, Santos FAB, Alves LC, Cruz-Filho IJ, Silva PR, Jacob ITT, Soares JCS, Santos DKDN, Souza TRCL, Oliveira JF, Lima MDCA. Thiazolidine derivatives: In vitro toxicity assessment against promastigote and amastigote forms of Leishmania infantum and ultrastructural study. Exp Parasitol 2022; 236-237:108253. [PMID: 35381223 DOI: 10.1016/j.exppara.2022.108253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2021] [Revised: 02/08/2022] [Accepted: 03/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Neglected diseases, such as Leishmaniasis, constitute a group of communicable diseases that occur mainly in tropical countries. Considered a public health problem with limited treatment. Therefore, there is a need for new therapies. In this sense, our proposal was to evaluate in vitro two series of thiazolidine compounds (7a-7e and 8a-8e) against Leishmania infantum. We performed in vitro evaluations through macrophage cytotoxicity assays (J774) and nitric oxide production, activity against promastigotes and amastigotes, as well as ultrastructural analyzes in promastigotes. In the evaluation of cytotoxicity, the thiazolidine compounds presented CC50 values between 8.52 and 126.83 μM. Regarding the evaluation against the promastigote forms, the IC50 values ranged between 0.42 and 142.43 μM. Compound 7a was the most promising, as it had the lowest IC50. The parasites treated with compound 7a showed several changes, such as cell body shrinkage, shortening and loss of the flagellum, intense mitochondrial edema and cytoplasmic vacuolization, leading the parasite to cell inviability. In assays against the amastigote forms, the compound showed a low IC50 (0.65 μM). These results indicate that compound 7a was efficient for both evolutionary forms of the parasite. In silico studies suggest that the compound has good oral bioavailability. These results show that compound 7a is a potential drug candidate for the treatment of Leishmaniasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Allana L A Gouveia
- Federal University of Pernambuco, Department of Antibiotics, Center for Biosciences, 50.670-420, Recife, PE, Brazil
| | - Fábio A B Santos
- Aggeu Magalhães Institut. Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (IAM-FIOCRUZ), 50670-420, Recife, PE, Brazil
| | - Luiz C Alves
- Aggeu Magalhães Institut. Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (IAM-FIOCRUZ), 50670-420, Recife, PE, Brazil
| | - Iranildo José Cruz-Filho
- Federal University of Pernambuco, Department of Antibiotics, Center for Biosciences, 50.670-420, Recife, PE, Brazil
| | - Paula R Silva
- Federal University of Pernambuco, Department of Antibiotics, Center for Biosciences, 50.670-420, Recife, PE, Brazil
| | - Iris T T Jacob
- Federal University of Pernambuco, Department of Antibiotics, Center for Biosciences, 50.670-420, Recife, PE, Brazil
| | - José Cleberson S Soares
- Federal University of Pernambuco, Department of Antibiotics, Center for Biosciences, 50.670-420, Recife, PE, Brazil
| | - Dayane K D N Santos
- Federal University of Pernambuco, Department of Antibiotics, Center for Biosciences, 50.670-420, Recife, PE, Brazil
| | - Tulio Ricardo C L Souza
- Rural University of Pernambuco, Academic Unit of Belo Jardim, 55156-580, Belo Jardim, PE, Brazil
| | - Jamerson F Oliveira
- University for the International Integration of Afro-Brazilian Lusophony (UNILAB), 62790-970, Redenção, CE, Brazil
| | - Maria do Carmo A Lima
- Federal University of Pernambuco, Department of Antibiotics, Center for Biosciences, 50.670-420, Recife, PE, Brazil.
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Maciel MSP, Reis ASD, Fidelis QC. Antileishmanial potential of species from the family Lamiaceae: chemical and biological aspects of non-volatile compounds. Acta Trop 2022; 228:106309. [PMID: 35032468 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2022.106309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2021] [Revised: 01/08/2022] [Accepted: 01/11/2022] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease present in more than 90 countries and annually affects about 1 million people worldwide. It is caused by the genus Leishmania protozoa that are transmitted to humans by insect bites. This disease is a serious public health problem, which can cause death, disability, and mutilation. The drugs used in treatment have high toxicity, low efficiency, high costs, and possible antiparasitic resistance. Medicinal plant-based treatments have been used for leishmaniasis by population from endemic areas. Among the main botanical families used against leishmaniasis, in different parts of the world, the family Lamiaceae stands out. In this review, the antileishmanial activity of extracts, fractions, and non-volatile compounds of Lamiaceae species are presented. Leishmania species present in the Old and New World were evaluated and discussed. Altogether there are forty-two Lamiaceae species, belonging to twenty-six genera, and ninety-one constituents, isolated from eighteen species of this family, verified in antileishmanial assays. Chemical and biological aspects of extracts, fractions and non-volatile constituents are discussed in order to define a profile of antileishmanial plants of this family, based on the antileishmanial activities results. Notes are presented to guide future investigations to expand chemical and biological knowledge of Lamiaceae species and highlight its most promising antileishmanial agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Simone Pereira Maciel
- Program in Health and Technology, Center for Social Science, Health and Technology, Federal University of Maranhão, Av. Da Universidade, S/N, Dom Afonso Felipe Gregory, Imperatriz, Maranhão, Brazil, 65915-240
| | - Aramys Silva Dos Reis
- Department of Medicine, Center for Social Sciences, Health and Technology, Federal University of Maranhão, Av. Da Universidade, S/N, Dom Afonso Felipe Gregory, Imperatriz, Maranhão, Brazil, 65915-240
| | - Queli Cristina Fidelis
- Department of Science and Technology, Balsas Campus, Federal University of Maranhão, Balsas, Maranhão, Brazil, 65800-000.
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Carvalho LM, Gusmão MR, Costa AFP, de Brito RCF, Aguiar-Soares RDDO, Cardoso JMDO, Reis AB, Carneiro CM, Roatt BM. Immunochemotherapy for visceral leishmaniasis: combinatorial action of Miltefosine plus LBSapMPL vaccine improves adaptative Th1 immune response with control of splenic parasitism in experimental hamster model. Parasitology 2022; 149:371-379. [PMID: 35264268 PMCID: PMC11010489 DOI: 10.1017/s0031182021001906] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2021] [Revised: 10/08/2021] [Accepted: 10/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
The control of human visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is hard since there are no vaccines available as well as the treatment is hampered by toxicity and resistant parasites. Furthermore, as human, and canine VL causes immunosuppression, the combination of drugs with immunostimulatory agents is interesting to upregulate the immunity, reducing side-effects, improving treatment approaches against disease. Herein, we assessed the immunochemotherapy using miltefosine along with a vaccine formulated by Leishmania braziliensis antigens + saponin + monophosphoryl lipid-A (LBSapMPL) in L. infantum-infected hamsters. Two months after infection, the animals received treatments, and after 15 days they were evaluated for the treatment effect. The potential anti-Leishmania effect of miltefosine + LBSapMPL-vaccine was revealed by a specific immune response activation reflecting in control of spleen parasitism using half the miltefosine treatment time. The treated animals also showed an increase of total and T-CD4 splenocytes producing IFN-γ and TNF-α and a decrease of interleukin-10 and anti-Leishmania circulating IgG. In addition, it was demonstrated that the control of spleen parasitism is related to the generation of a protective Th1 immune response. Hence, due to the combinatorial action of miltefosine with LBSapMPL-vaccine in immunostimulating and controlling parasitism, this immunochemotherapy protocol can be an important alternative option against canine and human VL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lívia Mendes Carvalho
- Laboratório de Imunopatologia, Núcleo de Pesquisas em Ciências Biológicas/NUPEB, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brasil
| | - Miriã Rodrigues Gusmão
- Laboratório de Imunopatologia, Núcleo de Pesquisas em Ciências Biológicas/NUPEB, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brasil
| | - Ana Flávia Pereira Costa
- Laboratório de Imunopatologia, Núcleo de Pesquisas em Ciências Biológicas/NUPEB, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brasil
| | - Rory Cristiane Fortes de Brito
- Laboratório de Imunopatologia, Núcleo de Pesquisas em Ciências Biológicas/NUPEB, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brasil
| | | | - Jamille Mirelle de Oliveira Cardoso
- Laboratório de Imunopatologia, Núcleo de Pesquisas em Ciências Biológicas/NUPEB, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brasil
| | - Alexandre Barbosa Reis
- Laboratório de Imunopatologia, Núcleo de Pesquisas em Ciências Biológicas/NUPEB, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brasil
- Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Doenças Tropicais, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
| | - Cláudia Martins Carneiro
- Laboratório de Imunopatologia, Núcleo de Pesquisas em Ciências Biológicas/NUPEB, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brasil
| | - Bruno Mendes Roatt
- Laboratório de Imunopatologia, Núcleo de Pesquisas em Ciências Biológicas/NUPEB, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brasil
- Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Doenças Tropicais, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
- Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil
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Antileishmanial Efficacy of the Calpain Inhibitor MDL28170 in Combination with Amphotericin B. Trop Med Infect Dis 2022; 7:tropicalmed7020029. [PMID: 35202224 PMCID: PMC8878347 DOI: 10.3390/tropicalmed7020029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2022] [Revised: 02/11/2022] [Accepted: 02/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The necessity of drug combinations to treat leishmaniasis came to the surface mainly because of the toxicity of current treatments and the emergence of resistant strains. The calpain inhibitor MDL28170 has previously shown anti-Leishmania activity, therefore its use in association with standard drugs could provide a new alternative for the treatment strategy against leishmaniasis. In this study, we analyzed the potential of the combination of MDL28170 and the antileishmanial drug amphotericin B against Leishmania amazonensis and Leishmania chagasi. The compounds were tested in the combination of the ½ × IC50 value of MDL28170 plus the ¼ × IC50 value of amphotericin B, which led to an increment in the anti-promastigote activity when compared to the single drug treatments. This drug association revealed several and severe morphophysiological changes on parasite cells, such as loss of plasma membrane integrity, reduced size of flagellum, and depolarization of mitochondrial membrane potential besides increased reactive oxygen species production. In addition, the combination of both drugs had a deleterious effect on the Leishmania–macrophage interaction, reflecting in a significant anti-amastigote action, which achieved a reduction of 50% in the association index. These results indicate that the combination treatment proposed here may represent a new alternative for leishmaniasis chemotherapy.
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Rahman F, Ali R, Tabrez S, Mobeen A, Akand SK, Arish M, AlAsmari AF, Ali N, Rub A. Exploration of potential inhibitors for autophagy-related protein 8 as antileishmanial agents. Chem Biol Drug Des 2022; 99:816-827. [PMID: 35147279 DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.14029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2021] [Revised: 12/25/2021] [Accepted: 01/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Leishmaniasis is considered a tropical neglected disease, which is caused by an intra-macrophagicparasite, Leishmania. It is endemic in 89 different countries. Autophagy-related protein 8 (Ldatg8) is responsible for the transformation of parasites from promastigote to amastigote differentiation. Ldatg8 is one of the key drug targets of Leishmania donovani (L. donovani) responsible for the defense of parasites during stress conditions. Virtual screening of natural ligands library hadbeen performed against Ldatg8 to identify novel and potent inhibitors. Molecular-docking and molecular dynamics simulation studies showed that urolithin A stably blocked Ldatg8. Urolithins are combinations of coumarin and isocoumarin. Further, we evaluated the antileishmanial effects of urolithin A by antileishmanial assays. Urolithin A inhibited the growth and proliferation of L. donovani promastigotes with an IC50 value of 90.3 ± 6.014 μM. It also inhibited the intra-macrophagic parasite significantly with an IC50 value of 78.67±4.62 μM. It showed limited cytotoxicity to the human THP-1 differentiated macrophages with a CC50 value of 190.80 ± 16.89 μM. Further, we assayed reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and annexin V/PI staining upon Urolithin A treatment of parasites to have an insight into the mechanism of its action. It induced ROS significantly in a dose-dependent manner which caused apoptosis partially in parasites. The potential inhibitors for Ldatg8, identified in this study would provide the platform for the development of an effective and affordable antileishmanial drug.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fazlur Rahman
- Infection and Immunity Lab (414), Department of Biotechnology, Jamia Millia Islamia (A Central University), New Delhi, India, 110025
| | - Rahat Ali
- Infection and Immunity Lab (414), Department of Biotechnology, Jamia Millia Islamia (A Central University), New Delhi, India, 110025
| | - Shams Tabrez
- Infection and Immunity Lab (414), Department of Biotechnology, Jamia Millia Islamia (A Central University), New Delhi, India, 110025
| | - Ahmed Mobeen
- Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, New Delhi, India
| | - Sajjadul Kadir Akand
- Infection and Immunity Lab (414), Department of Biotechnology, Jamia Millia Islamia (A Central University), New Delhi, India, 110025
| | - Mohd Arish
- Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA
| | - Abdullah F AlAsmari
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, P.O. Box55760, 11451, Saudi Arabia
| | - Nemat Ali
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, P.O. Box55760, 11451, Saudi Arabia
| | - Abdur Rub
- Infection and Immunity Lab (414), Department of Biotechnology, Jamia Millia Islamia (A Central University), New Delhi, India, 110025
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Recent Progress in the Development of Indole-Based Compounds Active against Malaria, Trypanosomiasis and Leishmaniasis. MOLECULES (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 27:molecules27010319. [PMID: 35011552 PMCID: PMC8746838 DOI: 10.3390/molecules27010319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2021] [Revised: 12/31/2021] [Accepted: 01/01/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Human protozoan diseases represent a serious health problem worldwide, affecting mainly people in social and economic vulnerability. These diseases have attracted little investment in drug discovery, which is reflected in the limited available therapeutic arsenal. Authorized drugs present problems such as low efficacy in some stages of the disease or toxicity, which result in undesirable side effects and treatment abandonment. Moreover, the emergence of drug-resistant parasite strains makes necessary an even greater effort to develop safe and effective antiparasitic agents. Among the chemotypes investigated for parasitic diseases, the indole nucleus has emerged as a privileged molecular scaffold for the generation of new drug candidates. In this review, the authors provide an overview of the indole-based compounds developed against important parasitic diseases, namely malaria, trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis, by focusing on the design, optimization and synthesis of the most relevant synthetic indole scaffolds recently reported.
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Dantas RF, Torres-Santos EC, Silva Jr FP. Past and future of trypanosomatids high-throughput phenotypic screening. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz 2022; 117:e210402. [PMID: 35293482 PMCID: PMC8920514 DOI: 10.1590/0074-02760210402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2021] [Accepted: 12/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Diseases caused by trypanosomatid parasites affect millions of people mainly living in developing countries. Novel drugs are highly needed since there are no vaccines and available treatment has several limitations, such as resistance, low efficacy, and high toxicity. The drug discovery process is often analogous to finding a needle in the haystack. In the last decades a so-called rational drug design paradigm, heavily dependent on computational approaches, has promised to deliver new drugs in a more cost-effective way. Paradoxically however, the mainstay of these computational methods is data-driven, meaning they need activity data for new compounds to be generated and available in databases. Therefore, high-throughput screening (HTS) of compounds still is a much-needed exercise in drug discovery to fuel other rational approaches. In trypanosomatids, due to the scarcity of validated molecular targets and biological complexity of these parasites, phenotypic screening has become an essential tool for the discovery of new bioactive compounds. In this article we discuss the perspectives of phenotypic HTS for trypanosomatid drug discovery with emphasis on the role of image-based, high-content methods. We also propose an ideal cascade of assays for the identification of new drug candidates for clinical development using leishmaniasis as an example.
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Drug associations as alternative and complementary therapy for neglected tropical diseases. Acta Trop 2022; 225:106210. [PMID: 34687644 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2021.106210] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2021] [Revised: 10/02/2021] [Accepted: 10/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
The present paper aims to establish different treatments for neglected tropical disease by a survey on drug conjugations and possible fixed-dose combinations (FDC) used to obtain alternative, safer and more effective treatments. The source databases used were Science Direct and PubMed/Medline, in the intervals between 2015 and 2021 with the drugs key-words or diseases, like "schistosomiasis", "praziquantel", "malaria", "artesunate", "Chagas' disease", "benznidazole", "filariasis", diethylcarbamazine", "ivermectin", " albendazole". 118 works were the object of intense analysis, other articles and documents were used to increase the quality of the studies, such as consensuses for harmonizing therapeutics and historical articles. As a result, an effective NTD control can be achieved when different public health approaches are combined with interventions guided by the epidemiology of each location and the availability of appropriate measures to detect, prevent and control disease. It was also possible to verify that the FDCs promote a simplification of the therapeutic regimen, which promotes better patient compliance and enables a reduction in the development of parasitic resistance, requiring further studies aimed at resistant strains, since the combined APIs usually act by different mechanisms or at different target sites. In addition to eliminating the process of developing a new drug based on the identification and validation of active compounds, which is a complex, long process and requires a strong long-term investment, other advantages that FDCs have are related to productive gain and gain from the industrial plant, which can favor and encourage the R&D of new FDCs not only for NTDs but also for other diseases that require the use of more than one drug.
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40
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Khan AU, Jamshaid H, ud Din F, Zeb A, Khan GM. Designing, optimization and characterization of Trifluralin transfersomal gel to passively target cutaneous leishmaniasis. J Pharm Sci 2022; 111:1798-1811. [DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2022.01.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2021] [Revised: 01/06/2022] [Accepted: 01/07/2022] [Indexed: 02/09/2023]
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Kumari D, Singh K. Exploring the paradox of defense between host and Leishmania parasite. Int Immunopharmacol 2021; 102:108400. [PMID: 34890999 DOI: 10.1016/j.intimp.2021.108400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2021] [Revised: 11/18/2021] [Accepted: 11/21/2021] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Leishmaniasis, a neglected tropical disease, still remains a global concern for the healthcare sector. The primary causative agents of the disease comprise diverse leishmanial species, leading to recurring failures in disease diagnosis and delaying the initiation of appropriate chemotherapy. Various species of the Leishmania parasite cause diverse clinical manifestations ranging from skin ulcers to systemic infections. Therefore, host immunity in response to different forms of infecting species of Leishmania becomes pivotal in disease progression or regression. Thus, understanding the paradox of immune arsenals during host and parasite interface becomes crucial to eliminate this deadly disease. In the present review, we have elaborated on the immunological perspectives of the disease and discussed primary host immune cells that form a defense line to counteract parasite infection. Furthermore, we also have shed light on the immune cells and effector molecules responsible for parasite survival in host lethal milieu/ environment. Next, we have highlighted recent molecules/compounds showing potent leishmanicidal activities pertaining to their pro-oxidant and immuno-modulatory mechanisms. This review addresses an immuno-biological overview of the factors influencing the parasitic disease, as this knowledge can aid in the unraveling/ identification of potential biomarkers, novel therapeutics, and vaccine candidates against leishmaniasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diksha Kumari
- Infectious Diseases Division, CSIR- Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu 180001, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India
| | - Kuljit Singh
- Infectious Diseases Division, CSIR- Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu 180001, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India.
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Zulfiqar B, Avery VM. Assay development in leishmaniasis drug discovery: a comprehensive review. Expert Opin Drug Discov 2021; 17:151-166. [PMID: 34818139 DOI: 10.1080/17460441.2022.2002843] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Cutaneous, muco-cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis occur due to an infection with the protozoan parasite Leishmania. The current therapeutic options are limited mainly due to extensive toxicity, emerging resistance and variation in efficacy based on species and strain of the Leishmania parasite. There exists a high unmet medical need to identify new chemical starting points for drug discovery to tackle the disease. AREAS COVERED The authors have highlighted the recent progress, limitations and successes achieved in assay development for leishmaniasis drug discovery. EXPERT OPINION It is true that sophisticated and robust phenotypic in vitro assays have been developed during the last decade, however limitations and challenges remain with respect to variation in activity reported between different research groups and success in translating in vitro outcomes in vivo. The variability is not only due to strain and species differences but also a lack of well-defined criteria and assay conditions, e.g. culture media, host cell type, assay formats, parasite form used, multiplicity of infection and incubation periods. Thus, there is an urgent need for more physiologically relevant assays that encompass multi-species phenotypic approaches to identify new chemical starting points for leishmaniasis drug discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bilal Zulfiqar
- Discovery Biology, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Vicky M Avery
- Discovery Biology, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia.,Discovery Biology, Griffith University Drug Discovery Programme for Cancer Therapeutics, Brisbane, Australia.,School of Environment and Sciences, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia
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Escrivani DO, Charlton RL, Caruso MB, Burle-Caldas GA, Borsodi MPG, Zingali RB, Arruda-Costa N, Palmeira-Mello MV, de Jesus JB, Souza AMT, Abrahim-Vieira B, Freitag-Pohl S, Pohl E, Denny PW, Rossi-Bergmann B, Steel PG. Chalcones identify cTXNPx as a potential antileishmanial drug target. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2021; 15:e0009951. [PMID: 34780470 PMCID: PMC8664226 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0009951] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2021] [Revised: 12/10/2021] [Accepted: 10/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
With current drug treatments failing due to toxicity, low efficacy and resistance; leishmaniasis is a major global health challenge that desperately needs new validated drug targets. Inspired by activity of the natural chalcone 2’,6’-dihydroxy-4’-methoxychalcone (DMC), the nitro-analogue, 3-nitro-2’,4’,6’- trimethoxychalcone (NAT22, 1c) was identified as potent broad spectrum antileishmanial drug lead. Structural modification provided an alkyne containing chemical probe that labelled a protein within the parasite that was confirmed as cytosolic tryparedoxin peroxidase (cTXNPx). Crucially, labelling is observed in both promastigote and intramacrophage amastigote life forms, with no evidence of host macrophage toxicity. Incubation of the chalcone in the parasite leads to ROS accumulation and parasite death. Deletion of cTXNPx, by CRISPR-Cas9, dramatically impacts upon the parasite phenotype and reduces the antileishmanial activity of the chalcone analogue. Molecular docking studies with a homology model of in-silico cTXNPx suggest that the chalcone is able to bind in the putative active site hindering access to the crucial cysteine residue. Collectively, this work identifies cTXNPx as an important target for antileishmanial chalcones. Leishmaniasis is an insect vector-borne parasitic disease. With >350 million people world wide considered at risk, 12 million people currently infected and an economic cost that can be estimated in terms of >3.3 million working life years lost, leishmaniasis is a major global health challenge. The disease is of particular importance in Brazil. Current treatment of leishmaniasis is difficult requiring a long, costly course of drug treatment using old drugs with poor safety indications requiring close medical supervision. Moreover, resistance to current antileishmanials is growing, emphasising a major need for new drug targets. In earlier work we had identified a naturally inspired chalcone which had promising antileishmanial activity but with no known mode of action. In this work we use an analogue of this molecule as an activity based probe to identify a protein target of the chalcone. This protein, cTXNPx, has a major role in protecting the parasite against attack by reactive oxygen species in the host cell. By inhibiting this protein the parasite can no longer survive in the host. Collectively this work validates cTXNPx as a drug target with the chalcone as a lead structure for future drug discovery programmes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Douglas O. Escrivani
- Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Department of Chemistry, Durham University, Science Laboratories, South Road, Durham, United Kingdom
| | - Rebecca L. Charlton
- Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Department of Chemistry, Durham University, Science Laboratories, South Road, Durham, United Kingdom
| | - Marjolly B. Caruso
- Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo de Meis (IBqM), Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Gabriela A. Burle-Caldas
- Department of Biosciences, Durham University, Science Laboratories, South Road, Durham, United Kingdom
| | - Maria Paula G. Borsodi
- Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Russolina B. Zingali
- Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo de Meis (IBqM), Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Natalia Arruda-Costa
- Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | | | - Jéssica B. de Jesus
- Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | | | | | - Stefanie Freitag-Pohl
- Department of Chemistry, Durham University, Science Laboratories, South Road, Durham, United Kingdom
| | - Ehmke Pohl
- Department of Chemistry, Durham University, Science Laboratories, South Road, Durham, United Kingdom
- Department of Biosciences, Durham University, Science Laboratories, South Road, Durham, United Kingdom
| | - Paul W. Denny
- Department of Biosciences, Durham University, Science Laboratories, South Road, Durham, United Kingdom
| | - Bartira Rossi-Bergmann
- Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- * E-mail: (BR-B); (PGS)
| | - Patrick G. Steel
- Department of Chemistry, Durham University, Science Laboratories, South Road, Durham, United Kingdom
- * E-mail: (BR-B); (PGS)
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Ferreira MA, de Almeida Júnior RF, Onofre TS, Casadei BR, Farias KJS, Severino P, de Oliveira Franco CF, Raffin FN, de Lima e Moura TFA, de Melo Barbosa R. Annatto Oil Loaded Nanostructured Lipid Carriers: A Potential New Treatment for Cutaneous Leishmaniasis. Pharmaceutics 2021; 13:1912. [PMID: 34834327 PMCID: PMC8618414 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics13111912] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2021] [Revised: 10/14/2021] [Accepted: 10/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Annatto (Bixa orellana L.) is extensively used as food pigment worldwide. Recently, several studies have found it to have healing and antioxidant properties, as well as effective action against leishmaniasis. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to incorporate the oil obtained from annatto seeds into a nanostructured lipid carrier (NLC) and evaluate its physicochemical properties and biological activity against Leishmania major. Nanoparticles were prepared by the fusion-emulsification and ultrasonication method, with the components Synperonic™ PE (PL) as the surfactant, cetyl palmitate (CP) or myristyl myristate (MM) as solid lipids, annatto oil (AO) (2% and 4%, w/w) as liquid lipid and active ingredient, and ultra-pure water. Physicochemical and biological characterizations were carried out to describe the NLCs, including particle size, polydispersity index (PDI), and zeta potential (ZP) by dynamic light scattering (DLS), encapsulation efficiency (EE%), thermal behavior, X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR), cytotoxicity on BALB/c 3T3 fibroblasts and immortalized human keratinocyte cells, and anti-leishmaniasis activity in vitro. Nanoparticles presented an average diameter of ~200 nm (confirmed by TEM results), a PDI of less than 0.30, ZP between -12.6 and -31.2 mV, and more than 50% of AO encapsulated in NLCs. Thermal analyses demonstrated that the systems were stable at high temperatures with a decrease in crystalline structure due to the presence of AOs (confirmed by XRD). In vitro, the anti-leishmania test displayed good activity in encapsulating AO against L. major. The results indicate that the oily fraction of Bixa orellana L. in NLC systems should be evaluated as a potential therapeutic agent against leishmaniasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marianna Araújo Ferreira
- Laboratory of Drug Development, Department of Pharmacy, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal 59012-570, Brazil; (M.A.F.); (F.N.R.)
| | | | - Thiago Souza Onofre
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department, Federal University of Viçosa (UFV), Viçosa 36570-900, Brazil;
| | - Bruna Renata Casadei
- Institute of Physics, University of São Paulo, USP, São Paulo 05508-090, Brazil;
| | | | - Patricia Severino
- Institute of Technology and Research (ITP), Aracaju 49010-390, Brazil;
| | | | - Fernanda Nervo Raffin
- Laboratory of Drug Development, Department of Pharmacy, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal 59012-570, Brazil; (M.A.F.); (F.N.R.)
| | | | - Raquel de Melo Barbosa
- Laboratory of Drug Development, Department of Pharmacy, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal 59012-570, Brazil; (M.A.F.); (F.N.R.)
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45
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Kar A, Jayaraman A, Kumar A, Kar Mahapatra S. Dynamicity in Host Metabolic Adaptation Is Influenced by the Synergistic Effect of Eugenol Oleate and Amphotericin B During Leishmania donovani Infection In Vitro. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2021; 11:709316. [PMID: 34414131 PMCID: PMC8369346 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.709316] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2021] [Accepted: 07/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Immune metabolic adaptation in macrophages by intracellular parasites is recognized to play a crucial role during Leishmania infection. However, there is little accessible information about changes in a metabolic switch in L. donovani infected macrophages. In previous studies, we have reported on the anti-leishmanial synergic effect of eugenol oleate with amphotericin B. In the present study, we demonstrated that glycolytic enzymes were highly expressed in infected macrophages during combinatorial treatment of eugenol oleate (2.5 µM) and amphotericin B (0.3125 µM). Additionally, we found that the biphasic role in arachidonic acid metabolite, PGE2, and LTB4, is released during this treatment. In vitro data showed that COX-2 mediated PGE2 synthesis increased significantly (p<0.01) in infected macrophages. Not only was the level of prostaglandin synthesis decreased 4.38 fold in infected macrophages after treatment with eugenol oleate with amphotericin B. The mRNA expression of PTGES, MPGES, and PTGER4 were also moderately expressed in infected macrophages, and found to be decreased in combinatorial treatment. In addition, NOS2 expression was activated by the phosphorylation of p38MAPK when combination-treated macrophages were promoted to kill intracellular parasites. The findings of the present study indicate that the synergism between eugenol oleate and amphotericin B could play an important role in immune metabolism adaptation with a concomitant increase in host immune response against the intracellular pathogen, L. donovani.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amrita Kar
- Department of Biotechnology, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology & Research Academy (SASTRA) Deemed to be University, Thanjavur, India
| | - Adithyan Jayaraman
- Department of Biotechnology, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology & Research Academy (SASTRA) Deemed to be University, Thanjavur, India
| | - Avanthika Kumar
- Department of Biotechnology, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology & Research Academy (SASTRA) Deemed to be University, Thanjavur, India
| | - Santanu Kar Mahapatra
- Department of Biotechnology, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology & Research Academy (SASTRA) Deemed to be University, Thanjavur, India.,Department of Paramedical and Allied Health Sciences, Midnapore City College, Midnapore, India
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46
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Davies-Bolorunduro O, Osuolale O, Saibu S, Adeleye I, Aminah N. Bioprospecting marine actinomycetes for antileishmanial drugs: current perspectives and future prospects. Heliyon 2021; 7:e07710. [PMID: 34409179 PMCID: PMC8361068 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07710] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2021] [Revised: 07/25/2021] [Accepted: 07/30/2021] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Revived analysis interests in natural products in the hope of discovering new and novel antileishmanial drug leads have been driven partially by the increasing incidence of drug resistance. However, the search for novel chemotherapeutics to combat drug resistance had previously concentrated on the terrestrial environment. As a result, the marine environment was often overlooked. For example, actinomycetes are an immensely important group of bacteria for antibiotic production, producing two-thirds of the known antibiotics. However, these bacteria have been isolated primarily from terrestrial sources. Consequently, there have been revived efforts to discover new compounds from uncharted or uncommon environments like the marine ecosystem. Isolation, purification and structure elucidation of target compounds from complex metabolic extract are major challenges in natural products chemistry. As a result, marine-derived natural products from actinomycetes that have antileishmanial bioactivity potentials have been understudied. This review highlights metagenomic and bioassay approaches which could help streamline the drug discovery process thereby greatly reducing time and cost of dereplication to identify suitable antileishmanial drug candidates.
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Affiliation(s)
- O.F. Davies-Bolorunduro
- Microbiology Department, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Lagos, Nigeria
- Postdoc Fellow Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universitas Airlangga, Komplek Kampus C, Jl. Mulyorejo, Surabaya, 60115, Indonesia
| | - O. Osuolale
- Applied Environmental Metagenomics and Infectious Diseases Research Group (AEMIDR), Department of Biological Sciences, Elizade University, Ilara Mokin, Nigeria
| | - S. Saibu
- Department of Microbiology, University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos, Nigeria
| | - I.A. Adeleye
- Department of Microbiology, University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos, Nigeria
| | - N.S. Aminah
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universitas Airlangga, Komplek Kampus C UNAIR, Jl. Mulyorejo, Surabaya, 60115, Indonesia
- Biotechnology of Tropical Medicinal Plants Research Group, Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia
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Ftouh S, Bourgeade-Delmas S, Belkadi M, Deraeve C, Hemmert C, Valentin A, Gornitzka H. Synthesis, Characterization, and Antileishmanial Activity of Neutral Gold(I) Complexes with N-heterocyclic Carbene Ligands Bearing Sulfur-Containing Side Arms. Organometallics 2021. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.organomet.1c00113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Soumia Ftouh
- LCC-CNRS, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, Toulouse 31400, France
- (LSPBE), Département de Génie Chimique, Faculté de Chimie, Université des Sciences et de la Technologie d’Oran Mohamed Boudiaf, USTO-MB,
B.P 1505, El Mnaouer, Oran 31000, Algeria
| | | | - Mohamed Belkadi
- (LSPBE), Département de Génie Chimique, Faculté de Chimie, Université des Sciences et de la Technologie d’Oran Mohamed Boudiaf, USTO-MB,
B.P 1505, El Mnaouer, Oran 31000, Algeria
| | - Céline Deraeve
- LCC-CNRS, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, Toulouse 31400, France
| | | | - Alexis Valentin
- UMR 152 PharmaDev, Université de Toulouse, IRD, UPS, Toulouse 31400, France
| | - Heinz Gornitzka
- LCC-CNRS, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, Toulouse 31400, France
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Rahman F, Tabrez S, Ali R, Akand SK, Zahid M, Alaidarous MA, Alsaweed M, Alshehri BM, Banawas S, Bin Dukhyil AA, Rub A. Virtual screening of natural compounds for potential inhibitors of Sterol C-24 methyltransferase of Leishmania donovani to overcome leishmaniasis. J Cell Biochem 2021; 122:1216-1228. [PMID: 33955051 DOI: 10.1002/jcb.29944] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2021] [Revised: 04/05/2021] [Accepted: 04/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by trypanosomatid parasite belonging to the genera Leishmania. Leishmaniasis is transmitted from one human to other through the bite of sandflies. It is endemic in around 98 countries including tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, Africa, Southern America, and the Mediterranean region. Sterol C-24 methyltransferase (LdSMT) of Leishmania donovani (L. donovani) mediates the transfer of CH3-group from S-adenosyl methionine to C-24 position of sterol side chain which makes the ergosterol different from cholesterol. Absence of ortholog in human made it potential druggable target. Here, we performed virtual screening of library of natural compounds against LdSMT to identify the potential inhibitor for it and to fight leishmaniasis. Gigantol, flavan-3-ol, and parthenolide showed the best binding affinity towards LdSMT. Further, based on absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion properties and biological activity prediction, gigantol showed the best lead-likeness and drug-likeness properties. Therefore, we further elucidated its antileishmanial properties. We found that gigantol inhibited the growth and proliferation of promastigotes as well as intra-macrophagic amastigotes. Gigantol exerted its antileishmanial action through the induction of reactive oxygen species in dose-dependent manner. Our study, suggested the possible use of gigantol as antileishmanial drug after further validations to overcome leishmaniasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fazlur Rahman
- Department of Biotechnology, Infection and Immunity Lab (414), Jamia Millia Islamia (A Central University), New Delhi, India
| | - Shams Tabrez
- Department of Biotechnology, Infection and Immunity Lab (414), Jamia Millia Islamia (A Central University), New Delhi, India
| | - Rahat Ali
- Department of Biotechnology, Infection and Immunity Lab (414), Jamia Millia Islamia (A Central University), New Delhi, India
| | - Sajjadul Kadir Akand
- Department of Biotechnology, Infection and Immunity Lab (414), Jamia Millia Islamia (A Central University), New Delhi, India
| | - Mariya Zahid
- Department of Biotechnology, Infection and Immunity Lab (414), Jamia Millia Islamia (A Central University), New Delhi, India
| | - Mohammed A Alaidarous
- Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Majmaah University, Al Majmaah, Saudi Arabia
- Department of Vice Rector for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, Health and Basic Sciences Research Center, Majmaah University, Al Majmaah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mohammed Alsaweed
- Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Majmaah University, Al Majmaah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Bader Mohammed Alshehri
- Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Majmaah University, Al Majmaah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Saeed Banawas
- Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Majmaah University, Al Majmaah, Saudi Arabia
- Department of Vice Rector for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, Health and Basic Sciences Research Center, Majmaah University, Al Majmaah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Abdul Aziz Bin Dukhyil
- Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Majmaah University, Al Majmaah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Abdur Rub
- Department of Biotechnology, Infection and Immunity Lab (414), Jamia Millia Islamia (A Central University), New Delhi, India
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González M, Alcolea PJ, Álvarez R, Medarde M, Larraga V, Peláez R. New diarylsulfonamide inhibitors of Leishmania infantum amastigotes. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR PARASITOLOGY-DRUGS AND DRUG RESISTANCE 2021; 16:45-64. [PMID: 34015753 PMCID: PMC8142021 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpddr.2021.02.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2020] [Revised: 02/22/2021] [Accepted: 02/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
New drugs against visceral leishmaniasis with mechanisms of action differing from existing treatments and with adequate cost, stability, and properties are urgently needed. No antitubulin drug is currently in the clinic against Leishmania infantum, the causative agent of visceral leishmaniasis in the Mediterranean area. We have designed and synthesized a focused library of 350 compounds against the Leishmania tubulin based on the structure-activity relationship (SAR) and sequence differences between host and parasite. The compounds synthesized are accessible, stable, and appropriately soluble in water. We assayed the library against Leishmania promastigotes, axenic, and intracellular amastigotes and found 0, 8, and 16 active compounds, respectively, with a high success rate against intracellular amastigotes of over 10%, not including the cytotoxic compounds. Five compounds have a similar or better potency than the clinically used miltefosine. 14 compounds showed a host-dependent mechanism of action that might be advantageous as it may render them less susceptible to the development of drug resistance. The active compounds cluster in five chemical classes that provide structure-activity relationships for further hit improvement and facilitate series development. Molecular docking is consistent with the proposed mechanism of action, supported by the observed structure-activity relationships, and suggests a potential extension to other Leishmania species due to sequence similarities. A new family of diarylsulfonamides designed against the parasite tubulins is active against Leishmania infantum and represents a new class of potential drugs with favorable cost, stability, and aqueous solubility for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis (VL). These results could be extended to other clinically relevant species of Leishmania spp.
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Affiliation(s)
- Myriam González
- Laboratorio de Química Orgánica y Farmacéutica, Departamento de Ciencias Farmacéuticas, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain; Centro de Investigación de Enfermedades Tropicales de la Universidad de Salamanca (CIETUS), Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
| | - Pedro José Alcolea
- Laboratorio de Parasitología Molecular, Departamento de Biología Celular y Molecular, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas Margarita Salas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid, Spain
| | - Raquel Álvarez
- Laboratorio de Química Orgánica y Farmacéutica, Departamento de Ciencias Farmacéuticas, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain; Centro de Investigación de Enfermedades Tropicales de la Universidad de Salamanca (CIETUS), Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
| | - Manuel Medarde
- Laboratorio de Química Orgánica y Farmacéutica, Departamento de Ciencias Farmacéuticas, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain; Centro de Investigación de Enfermedades Tropicales de la Universidad de Salamanca (CIETUS), Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
| | - Vicente Larraga
- Laboratorio de Parasitología Molecular, Departamento de Biología Celular y Molecular, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas Margarita Salas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid, Spain
| | - Rafael Peláez
- Laboratorio de Química Orgánica y Farmacéutica, Departamento de Ciencias Farmacéuticas, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain; Centro de Investigación de Enfermedades Tropicales de la Universidad de Salamanca (CIETUS), Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain.
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50
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Ma'mag LK, Zintchem AAA, Théodora KK, Atchadé ADT, Lauve TY, Frédérich M, Bikobo DSN, Pegnyemb DE. Antiplasmodial and antileishmanial inhibitory activity of triterpenes and steroidal alkaloid from the leaves of Funtumia elastica (Preuss) Stapf (Apocynaceae). Fitoterapia 2021; 151:104869. [PMID: 33657429 DOI: 10.1016/j.fitote.2021.104869] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2020] [Revised: 02/20/2021] [Accepted: 02/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The phytochemical study of leaves of Funtumia elastica led to the isolation of three undescribed ursane derivatives, funtumic acids A, B and C (1-3), as well as one steroidal alkaloid, elasticine (4) and five other known compounds (5-9). Their structures were elucidated on the basis of NMR, MS, IR, UV spectroscopic data as well as by comparison with the literature. The compound 5-hydroxypyridine-3-carboxamide (9) was isolated for the first time from the Apocynaceae family. All the isolated compounds were evaluated for their antiparasitic effects against 3D7 and Dd2 strains of Plasmodium falciparum and promastigotes of Leishmania donovani (MHOM/SD/62/1S). Compounds 1-4 possessed good in vitro antimalarial activities against CQR Dd2 with IC50 values ranging from 4.68 to 5.36 μg/mL and moderate on CQS 3D7. Only compounds 1 and 2 showed leishmanicidal activities with IC50 values ranging between 10.49 and 13.21 μg/mL. In addition, crude extract exhibited potent antiplasmodial (IC50 0.91 and 3.12 μg/mL) and antileishmanial (IC50 3.32 μg/mL) activities, thus demonstrating their potential synergistic action.
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Affiliation(s)
- Larissa Kom Ma'mag
- Faculty of Science, Department of Organic Chemistry, University of Yaoundé 1, Yaoundé, Cameroon; Center for Studies on Medicinal Plants and Traditional Medicine (CRPMT), Institute of Medical Research and Medicinal Plants Studies (IMPM), Yaoundé, Cameroon
| | - Auguste Abouem A Zintchem
- Faculty of Science, Department of Organic Chemistry, University of Yaoundé 1, Yaoundé, Cameroon; Department of Chemistry, Higher Teacher's Training College, University of Yaoundé 1, Yaoundé, Cameroon
| | - Kopa Kowa Théodora
- Center for Studies on Medicinal Plants and Traditional Medicine (CRPMT), Institute of Medical Research and Medicinal Plants Studies (IMPM), Yaoundé, Cameroon; University of Liège, Natural and Synthetic Drugs Research Center, Laboratory of Pharmacognosy, Liège, Belgium
| | | | - Tchokouaha Yamthe Lauve
- Center for Studies on Medicinal Plants and Traditional Medicine (CRPMT), Institute of Medical Research and Medicinal Plants Studies (IMPM), Yaoundé, Cameroon
| | - Michel Frédérich
- University of Liège, Natural and Synthetic Drugs Research Center, Laboratory of Pharmacognosy, Liège, Belgium
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