Cell death in amastigote forms of Leishmania amazonensis induced by parthenolide.

Background: Leishmania amazonensis infection results in diverse clinical manifestations: cutaneous, mucocutaneous or visceral leishmaniasis. The arsenal of drugs available for treating Leishmania infections is limited. Therefore, new, effective, and less toxic leishmaniasis treatments are still needed.

Intramuscular and topical treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis lesions in mice infected with Leishmania amazonensis using coumarin (-) mammea A/BB.

Treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis remains limited to a few available options. Recent studies showed in vitro antileishmanial activity of (-) mammea A/BB, a coumarin isolated from leaves of Calophyllum brasiliense. Moreover, the dichloromethane crude extract and hexane fraction from this plant demonstrated in vivo activity in mice infected with Leishmania amazonensis.

Synergistic effects of parthenolide and benznidazole on Trypanosoma cruzi.

Parthenolide previously isolated from Tanacetum vulgare was tested for its in vitro combinatory effect with benznidazole against Trypanosoma cruzi. Parthenolide showed a strong synergistic activity against epimastigote forms, reducing 23-fold the concentration of benznidazole necessary to inhibit 50% of cell growth (IC(50) of 1.6 to 0.

Antileishmanial activity of parthenolide, a sesquiterpene lactone isolated from Tanacetum parthenium.

The in vitro activity of parthenolide against Leishmania amazonensis was investigated. Parthenolide is a sesquiterpene lactone purified from the hydroalcoholic extract of aerial parts of Tanacetum parthenium. This isolated compound was identified through spectral analyses by UV, infrared, (1)H and (13)C nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, DEPT (distortionless enhancement by polarization transfer), COSY (correlated spectroscopy), HMQC (heteronuclear multiple-quantum coherence), and electron spray ionization-mass spectrometry.