Study of anti-Leishmania activity of Brazilian marine invertebrate compounds

• Grant number: 06/05241-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2007
• End date: February 28, 2009
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Parasitology
• Principal Investigator: André Gustavo Tempone Cardoso
• Grantee: Juliana Quero Reimão Dalla Zanna
• Host Institution: Instituto Adolfo Lutz (IAL). Coordenadoria de Controle de Doenças (CCD). Secretaria da Saúde (São Paulo - Estado). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Protozoan parasitic diseases affect the poorest populations in the world, and consequently are not seen as potential markets. Visceral Leishmaniasis is characterized by a fatal and progressive disease, which is endemic in 88 countries, and according to WHO, it is among the six more important endemic diseases. The treatment employs toxic drugs as pentavalent antimonials, anfotericin B and pentamidine, demonstrating a restricted therapeutic arsenal, which is in many times, surpassed by resistance. This project aims to the evaluation of the pharmacological potential of natural products from marine invertebrates of the Brazilian coast against Leishmania (L.) chagasi. To date, our group has been found a novel promising extract from Cnidaria, which will also be studied in this project. Through different chromatographic techniques and biomonitored assays, one will isolate the most effective compound against promastigote and intracellular amastigotes forms of the parasite. Cytotoxicity studies will be done using different mammalian cells, in order to find the Selectivity Indexes.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

REIMAO, JULIANA QUERO; MIGOTTO, ALVARO ESTEVES; KOSSUGA, MIRIAM H.; BERLINCK, ROBERTO G. S.; TEMPONE, ANDRE GUSTAVO. Antiprotozoan activity of Brazilian marine cnidarian extracts and of a modified steroid from the octocoral Carijoa riisei. Parasitology Research, v. 103, n. 6, p. 1445-1450, NOV 2008. (06/05241-2, 05/60175-2, 05/00974-9)