Vegetal peptides as candidates for antileishmanial drugs: preliminary studies

Abstract: Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) is a chronic and neglected skin disease. The infection is characterized by the formation of hyperproliferative and disfiguring ulcerative skin lesions that develop as a result of a parasitic infection caused by the Leishmania spp. This single-celled parasite is transmitted by the bite of a female sandfly. Leishmania has a life cycle that includes two main forms: promastigote (extracellular, flagellated) and amastigote (intracellular). The infection is notorious for causing substantial morbidity and a decrease in the quality of life, since the lesions can be disabling, cosmetically disfiguring, itching and painful, especially if left untreated. Wound treatment is also important because secondary infection with bacteria or fungi is common. Current pharmacotherapy is largely inadequate. Most of the pharmacotherapy is for systemic use (intramuscular, intravenous, oral) and have moderate / severe side effects. Some of them are also contraindicated in pregnant or nursing women, very young children and people with certain chronic diseases. Therefore, our goal is to produce new treatments that can be applied locally or topically. Research for new pharmacological entities from natural products, including peptides and other bioactive compounds, has been intensified in accordance with the WHO's call to make concerted efforts to find out how to overcome the current challenges that exist with CL treatments. We are conducting an in vitro examination of several plant peptides to detect antileishmanial activity against promastigotes and amastigotes of L. amazonensis. The peptides have been chosen because the crude extracts of the parts of the plant have previously reported that they possess anti-trypanosomatid activities. From then on, we hope to use the rat model for future studies of the promising candidates of the current study.

http://www.institutoferreyra.org/2019/09/10/peptidos-vegetales-como-cand...

By Dr. Ebenezer Ajayi, Postdoc Fellow in Dra Dolores Carrer Laboratory