Native argentine Asteraceae as a source of extracts and sesquiterpene lactones active against Trypanosoma cruzi

SALAMANCA CAPUSIRI E.; GILABERT M.; ALBERTO GIMENEZ; S. AMAYA; NANCY VERA; BORKOSKY SUSANA; SOSA ANDREA; PALMA CAMILA; BARDON ALICIA

Buenos Aires

Congreso; Drug discovery for neglected diseases international congress 2018. 4th Scientific Meeting of the Research Network Natural Products against Neglected Diseases; 2018

Instituto de Quimica y Metabolismo del Farmaco- Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica UBA

Chagas disease is a potentially life-threatening illness caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. Currently, only two therapeutic options are available for the treatment of this disease: benznidazole and nifurtimox. Both drugs, have low or no efficacy in the chronic states of the disease, present regional variations of effectiveness and side effects that lead to the interruption of treatment in a high percentage of patients. For the above mentioned, new more efective low-cost drugs and with lower toxicity are needed. Natural products (NP), were not only the origin of many drugs in the past, but they still continue providing a unique structural diversity in comparison to standard combinatorial chemistry, offering opportunities for the discovery of lead compounds. Sesquiterpene lactones (SLs) are a group of NP mainly found in the Asteraceae family, which present interesting biological activities, i.e., antitumor, anti-inflammatory, antiparasitic, among others.