Study on Experimental Leishmanicidal Activity and in silico of Cytochalasin B

Abstract

Leishmaniasis is a neglected infectious disease caused by different species of the Leishmania parasite and is one of the major public health problems in developing countries. Despite the progress in fundamental knowledge about the Leishmania parasite, current therapy against leishmaniasis is still unsatisfactory due to limited efficacy, prolonged treatment, high cost and undesirable adverse effects. Thus, the research for new prototypes compounds of antileishmaniasis drugs remains a matter of current importance. The objective of this study was to evaluate the leishmanicidal activity of cytochalasin B, a natural compound isolated by our group in a previous study, against L. amazonensis, using experimental tests and computational simulation methodologies. The results of the biological evaluation showed that cytochalasin B has antileishmanial activity against the promastigote form of Leishmania amazonensis. These results are corroborated by the docking and molecular dynamics that showed that the activity occurs due to the inactivation of the trypanothione reductase enzyme (TryR).