Leishmanicidal activity of soranjidiol, an anthraquinone isolated from Heterophyllaea pustulata.

MOREIRA B; MATHEUS M; DANELLIS M; COMINI L.R; NÚÑEZ MONTOYA S.C.; PINO-DA-SILVA L.

Foz do Iguaςu

Encuentro; XXVII ANNUAL MEETING OF THE BRAZILIAN SOCIETY OF PROTOZOOLOGY. XXXVIII ANNUAL MEETING ON BASIC RESEARCH IN CHAGAS´DISEASE; 2011

Brazilian Society of Protozoology

Leishmaniasis is a disease caused by a protozoan Leishmania sp. Acording to WHO, about 1.5 million new cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis occur each year worldwide. The treatment is based on antimonials compounds and amphotericin B, the last is used on resistant parasite strain; however, these drugs have high toxicity and are not fully effective. Many studies using natural products have been done to find out new chemotherapeutic agents against Leishmania sp. Anthraquinones (AQs) with photosensitizing and antimicrobial properties have been isolated from a phototoxic plant, Heterophyllaea pustulata Hook f.(Rubiaceae); one of the predominant metabolites was purified and identified as soranjidiol. In this study, we investigated the leishmanicidal effect of soranjidiol in vitro.