Identification and validation of drugs for the treatment of Leishmaniasis

• Grant number: 21/08434-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: September 01, 2021
• End date: August 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Pharmacology - Biochemical and Molecular Pharmacology
• Principal Investigator: José Carlos Farias Alves Filho
• Grantee: Amanda Aparecida Seribelli
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (FMRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/08216-2 - CRID - Center for Research in Inflammatory Diseases, AP.CEPID

Abstract

Leishmaniasis is a disease caused by several species of protozoa of the genus Leishmania, obligate intracellular parasites of cells of the mononuclear phagocytic system, which cause different clinical symptoms of the disease. Brazil is the Country with the highest rates of the disease in Latin America, with Cutaneous Leishmaniasis being predominant among cases. Currently, the treatment of cases of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis is initially made with a pentavalent antimony, which can be N-methyl glucamine antimoniate or sodium stibogluconate (not marketed in Brazil). These compounds are considered leishmanicidal drugs because they interfere in the energy production of Leishamania spp amastigotes. They inhibit glycolysis and fatty acid oxidation in specific organelles, reducing the production of ATP and GTP and causing the death of the parasite. Treatment with pentavalent antimonials is extensive, expensive and uncomfortable, based on daily injections of the drug for 20 to 30 days, depending on the severity of the disease. The aim of this project is to validate compounds that were previously identified in scans for the treatment of Leishmaniasis. In this sense, the development of this research proposal can generate important knowledge in the development of new future treatments for Leishamiosis. Such knowledge will contribute to the future development of therapies focused on the control of parasitic infection and on the inflammatory modulation caused by the infection. (AU)