This study investigates the leishmanicidal activity of five species of plants used in folk medicine in endemic areas of the state of Alagoas, Brazil. Data were collected in the cities of Colonia Leopoldina, Novo Lino, and União dos Palmares, Alagoas state, from patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis (Leishmania amazonensis) who use medicinal plants to treat this disease. Plants extracts were tes...

The possibility that purine inhibitors or analogs might be effective antileishmanial agents led to the determination of the antileishmanial activity of mycophenolic acid and allopurinol in vitro. The drugs were tested against Leishmania tropica amastigotes (mammalian forms) within human macrophages, a model in which achievable serum concentrations of antileishmanial agents currently in use elim...

A total of 115 different plant extracts from our collection, representing 96 plant species, have been evaluated for in vitro antileishmanial activity against L. amazonensis promastigotes. In addition, the extracts were screened for cytotoxic activity against BALB/c mouse macrophages in order to assess a selectivity index. Crude extracts that showed a selectivity index (CC50 for macrophage / IC5...

Coxiella burnetii, a rickettsia, and Leishmania amazonensis, a protozoan flagellate, lodge in their host cells within large phagolysosome-like vacuoles. In the present study, C. burnetii-infected Vero or CHO cells were superinfected with L. amazonensis amastigotes to determine if these parasites can home to and survive within heterologous vacuoles. Six hours after superinfection, Leishmania ama...

The EU-sponsored LEISHDRUG consortium uses a highly interdisciplinary approach to reveal Leishmania signaling molecules associated with virulence of the pathogenic amastigote stage. LEISHDRUG coordinates the efforts of 13 partners across eight nations, including four institutes of the Institut Pasteur international network, with the major aim to exploit the Leishmania kinome for anti-parasitic ...

BACKGROUND To invade target cells, Trypanosoma cruzi metacyclic forms engage distinct sets of surface and secreted molecules that interact with host components. Serine-, alanine-, and proline-rich proteins (SAP) comprise a multigene family constituted of molecules with a high serine, alanine and proline residue content. SAP proteins have a central domain (SAP-CD) responsible for interaction wit...

nigella sativa (n. sativa) grows in various parts of the world, particularly in iran. it has been traditionally used as a folk remedy to treat a number of diseases. the seeds of this plant contain moisture, proteins, carbohydrates, crude fiber, alkaloids, saponins, ash, fixed oils and essential oil. the major components of the essential oil are thymoquinone, p-cymene, trans-anethole, 2-methyl-5...

Leishmania parasites alternate between extracellular promastigotes in sandflies and intracellular amastigotes in mammals. These protozoans acquire sphingolipids (SLs) through de novo synthesis (to produce inositol phosphorylceramide) and salvage (to obtain sphingomyelin from the host). A single ISCL (Inositol phosphoSphingolipid phospholipase C-Like) enzyme is responsible for the degradation of...

Nanoparticles have long been known and their biomedical potent activities proven that these can provide an alternative to other drugs. In the current study, copper oxide, nickel oxide copper/nickel hybrid NPs were biosynthesized by using Curcuma longa root extracts as a reducing capping agent, followed characterization via UV-spectroscopy, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), energ...