Activity of Cuban Plants Extracts againstLeishmania amazonensis

Abstract

Natural products have long been providing important drug leads for infectious diseases. Leishmaniasis is a major health problem worldwide that affects millions of people especially in the developing nations. There is no immunoprophylaxis (vaccination) available forLeishmaniainfections, and conventional treatments are unsatisfactory; therefore, antileishmanial drugs are urgently needed. In this work, 48 alcoholic extracts from 46 Cuban plants were evaluated by anin vitrobioassay againstLeishmania amazonensis. Furthermore, their toxicity was assayed against murine macrophage. The three most potent extracts against the amastigote stage ofLeishmania amazonensiswere fromHura crepitans, Bambusa vulgaris, andSimarouba glauca.