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(Reference retrieved automatically from SciELO through information on FAPESP grant and its corresponding number as mentioned in the publication by the authors.)

Brazilian flora extracts as source of novel antileishmanial and antifungal compounds

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Author(s):
André Gustavo Tempone [1] ; Patrícia Sartorelli [2] ; Denise Teixeira [3] ; Frederico O Prado [4] ; Ivete ARL Calixto [5] ; Harri Lorenzi [6] ; Márcia SC Melhem [7]
Total Authors: 7
Affiliation:
[1] Instituto Adolfo Lutz. Serviço de Parasitologia. Laboratório de Toxinologia Aplicada - Brasil
[2] Universidade Federal de São Paulo. Departamento de Ciências Exatas e da Terra - Brasil
[3] Instituto Adolfo Lutz. Serviço de Parasitologia. Laboratório de Toxinologia Aplicada - Brasil
[4] Instituto Adolfo Lutz. Serviço de Parasitologia. Laboratório de Toxinologia Aplicada - Brasil
[5] Instituto Adolfo Lutz. Serviço de Parasitologia. Laboratório de Toxinologia Aplicada - Brasil
[6] Instituto Adolfo Lutz. Serviço de Parasitologia. Laboratório de Toxinologia Aplicada - Brasil
[7] Instituto Adolfo Lutz. Serviço de Parasitologia. Laboratório de Toxinologia Aplicada - Brasil
Total Affiliations: 7
Document type: Journal article
Source: Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz; v. 103, n. 5, p. 443-449, 2008-08-00.
Abstract

Natural products have long been providing important drug leads for infectious diseases. Leishmaniasis is a protozoan parasitic disease found mainly in developing countries, and it has toxic therapies with few alternatives. Fungal infections have been the main cause of death in immunocompromised patients and new drugs are urgently needed. In this work, a total of 16 plant species belonging to 11 families, selected on an ethnopharmacological basis, were analyzed in vitro against Leishmania (L.) chagasi, Leishmania (L.) amazonensis, Candida krusei, and C. parapsilosis. Of these plant species, seven showed antifungal activity against C. krusei, five showed antileishmanial activity against L. chagasi and four against L. amazonensis, among them species of genus Plectranthus. Our findings confirm the traditional therapeutic use of these plants in the treatment of infectious and inflammatory disorders and also offer insights into the isolation of active and novel drug prototypes, especially those used against neglected diseases as Leishmaniasis. (AU)