Antileishmanial Activity of a Calophyllum brasiliense Leaf Extract.

(Clusiaceae) is a tree that grows mainly in the Atlantic Forest in Brazil. Its leaves possess antibacterial activity, cytotoxic activity against certain tumor cell lines, and antimicrobial activity in BALB/c mice infected with .Aiming to identify ultrastructural changes and DNA fragmentation in promastigotes were treated with a concentration of the dichloromethane extract and coumarin (-) mammea A/BB from leaves that inhibited 50 % of the parasites (IC), and were evaluated by transmission and scanning electron microscopy. Ultrastructural changes showed different levels of mitochondrial alterations, including mitochondrial swelling and a reduction in the density of the mitochondrial matrix. Induced DNA fragmentation, as observed by TUNEL, suggested that the extract and coumarin (-) mammea A/BB induced apoptosis-like cell death. These results suggest that the combination of extract and coumarin (-) mammea A/BB can be considered a promising candidate for the development of new antiprotozoal agents, because of its significant leishmanicidal activity.