Natural Products Active in Leishmaiasis

B. Gilbert
R. Favoreto

Keywords

phytotherapy
Leishmania
nitric oxide
immune system

Abstract

A surprising variety of natural substances inhibit the experimental growth of Leishmania parasites, which are responsible for the three main forms of the disease leishmaniasis - cutaneous, muco-cutaneous and visceral. Results obtained with plant extracts, sometimes in vivo, although more frequently in vitro, demonstrate that the activity can be found in a wide variety of botanical families. Notable examples include Crassulaceae (genus Kalanchoe), Annonaceae (many genera). Piperaceae (especially Piper spp), Rutaceae (notably the genus Galipea) and Apocynaceae (genus Peschiera among others). Chemical classes that are important include alkaloids and chalcones that act directly on the parasite, while other classes embrace a variety of substances - phenolics, terpenoids, including di- and triterpenoids, and polysaccharides, whose action is often on the macrophage, host cell to the parasite, stimulating it to produce nitric oxide, mediators such as TNFa and INFs or other factors of the immune system lethal to Leishmania without being harmful to the macrophage itself. The results obtained sometimes confirm traditional uses of the plants and together form a solid basis for the development of new drugs to treat this group of diseases.

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Author(s)

  • B. Gilbert
    Instituto de Tecnologia em Fármacos, Far-Manguinhos, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz Rua Sizenando Nabuco 100, Manguinhos, 21041-250 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil
  • R. Favoreto

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Natural Products Active in Leishmaiasis. Rev Fitos [Internet]. 2005 Jun. 30 [cited 2024 Nov. 24];1(01):43-51. Available from: https://revistafitos.far.fiocruz.br/index.php/revista-fitos/article/view/6
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