Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud

The incidence of fungal pulmonary infections is known to be on the increase, and yet there is an alarming gap in terms of marketed antifungal therapies that are available for pulmonary administration. Amphotericin B (AmB) is a highly efficient broad-spectrum antifungal only marketed as an intravenous formulation. Based on the lack of effective antifungal and antiparasitic pulmonary treatments, the aim of this study was to develop a carbohydrate-based AmB dry powder inhaler (DPI) formulation, prepared by spray drying. Amorphous AmB microparticles were developed by combining 39.7 % AmB with 39.7 % γ-cyclodextrin, 8.1 % mannose and 12.5 % leucine. An increase in the mannose concentration from 8.1 to 29.8 %, led to partial drug crystallisation. Both formulations showed good in vitro lung deposition characteristics (80 % FPF < 5 µm and MMAD < 3 µm) at different air flow rates (60 and 30 L/min) when used with a DPI, but also during nebulisation upon reconstitution in water.

Leishmaniasis, African sleeping sickness and Chagas disease, caused by the kinetoplastid parasites Leishmania spp, Trypanosoma brucei and Trypanosoma cruzi, respectively, are among the most important parasitic diseases, affecting millions of people and considered to be within the most relevant group of neglected tropical diseases. The main alternative to control such parasitosis is chemotherapy. Nevertheless, the current chemotherapeutic treatments are far from being satisfactory. This review outlines the current understanding of different drugs against leishmaniasis, African sleeping sickness and Chagas disease, their mechanism of action and resistance. Recent approaches in the area of anti-leishmanial and trypanocidal therapies are also enumerated, new modulators from the mode of action, development of new formulations of old drugs, therapeutic switching and “in silico” drug design.

A series of compounds containing the nitrobenzene and sulfonamido moieties were synthesized and their leishmanicidal effect was assessed in vitro against Leishmania infantum promastigotes. Among the compounds evaluated, the p-nitrobenzenesulfonamides 4Aa and 4Ba, and the p-nitroaniline 5 showed significant activity with a good selectivity index. In a Balb/c mice model of L. Infantum, administration of compounds 4Aa, 4Ba or 5 (5 mg/kg/day for 10 days, injected ip route) led to a clear-cut parasite burden reduction (ca. 99%). In an attempt to elucidate their mechanism of action, the DNA interaction of 4Aa and 5 was investigated by means of viscosity studies, thermal denaturation and nuclease activity assay. Both compounds showed nuclease activity in the presence of copper salt. The results suggest that compounds 4Aa, 4Ba and 5 represent possible candidates for drug development in the therapeutic control of leishmaniasis.

Leishmaniasis is a neglected disease presenting cutaneous, mucosal and visceral forms and affecting an estimated 12 million mostly low-income people. Treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is recommended to expedite healing, reduce risk of scarring, prevent parasite dissemination to other mucocutaneous (common with New World species) or visceral forms and reduce the chance of relapse, but remains an unmet need. Available treatments are painful, prolonged (>20 days) and require hospitalisation, which increases the cost of therapy. Here we present the development of optimised topical self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery systems (SNEDDS) loaded with buparvaquone (BPQ, a hydroxynapthoquinone from the open Malaria Box) for the treatment of CL from New World species. The administration of topical BPQ-SNEDDS gels for 7 days resulted in a reduction of parasite load of 99.989 ± 0.019 % similar to the decrease achieved with intralesionally administered Glucantime® (99.873 ± 0.204 %) in a L. amazonensis BALB/c model. In vivo efficacy was supported by ex vivo permeability and in vivo tape stripping studies. BPQ-SNEDDS and their hydrogels demonstrated linear flux across non-infected CD-1 mouse skin ex vivo of 182.4 ± 63.0 μg cm-2 h-1 and 57.6 ± 10.8 μg cm-2 h-1 respectively localising BPQ within the skin in clinically effective concentrations (227.0 ± 45.9 μg and 103.8 ± 33.8 μg) respectively. These levels are therapeutic as BPQ-SNEDDS and their gels showed nanomolar in vitro efficacy against L. amazonensis and L. braziliensis amastigotes with excellent selectivity index toward parasites versus murine macrophages. In vivo tape stripping experiments indicated localisation of BPQ within the stratum corneum and dermis. Histology studies confirmed the reduction of parasitism and indicated healing in animals treated with BPQ-SNEDDS hydrogels. These results highlight the potential clinical capability of nano-enabled BPQ hydrogels towards a non-invasive treatment for CL.

Leishmaniasis a ects around 12 million people worldwide and is estimated to cause the ninth-largest disease burden. There are three main forms of the disease, visceral (VL), cutaneous (CL), and mucocutaneous (MCL), leading to more than one million new cases every year and several thousand deaths. Current treatments based on chemically synthesized molecules are far from ideal. In this study, we have tested the in vitro and in vivo e cacy of ursolic acid (UA), a multifunctional triterpenoid with well-known antitumoral, antioxidant, and antimicrobial e ects on di erent Leishmania strains. The in vitro antileishmanial activity against the intracellular forms was six and three-fold higher compared to extracellular forms of L. amazonensis and L. infantum, respectively. UA also showed to be a potent antileishmanial drug against both VL and CL manifestations of the disease in experimental models. UA parenterally administered at 5 mg/kg for seven days significantly reduced the parasite burden in liver and spleen not only in murine acute infection but also in a chronic-infection model against L. infantum. In addition, UA ointment (0.2%) topically administered for four weeks diminished (50%) lesion size progression in a chronic infection model of CL caused by L. amazonensis, which was much greater than the e ect of UA formulated as an O/W emulsion. UA played a key role in the immunological response modulating the Th1 response. The exposure of Leishmania-infected macrophages to UA led to a significant di erent production in the cytokine levels depending on the Leishmania strain causing the infection. In conclusion, UA can be a promising therapy against both CL and VL.

A stronger Th1 (cellular) immune response in canine leishmaniosis (CanL) leads to a better prognosis. Dietary nucleotides plus AHCC® have shown beneficial e ects in dogs with clinical leishmaniosis and in clinically healthy Leishmania-infected dogs. The potential leishmanicidal activity of nucleotides and AHCC was assessed by quantifying nitric oxide (NO) production and replication of parasites. Their e ects on lymphocyte proliferation were studied with and without soluble Leishmania infantum antigen (SLA) stimulation. Cytokine level variations were assessed using naïve and L. infantum-infected macrophages/lymphocytes cocultures. Promastigotes and amastigotes proliferation and NO macrophage production were not directly a ected. Lymphocyte proliferation was significantly enhanced by nucleotides, AHCC, and their combinations only after SLA stimulation. Nucleotides and AHCC significantly increased the production of IL-1 , IL-2, IL-5, IL-9, IL-10, and IL-12 by naïve immune cells. In naïve and L. infantum-infected macrophage/lymphocyte cocultures, nucleotides with or without AHCC led to significant increases in IFN- and TNF- . Given that these cytokines are involved in the e ective Th1 immune response against Leishmania parasites, these mechanisms of action could explain the previously reported in vivo clinical e cacy of such combination and further support the use of nucleotides with or without AHCC in the management of CanL patients.

The current therapies of leishmaniasis, the second most widespread neglected tropical disease, have limited e ectiveness and toxic side e ects. In this regard, natural products play an important role in overcoming the current need for new leishmanicidal agents. The present study reports a bioassay-guided fractionation of the ethanolic extract of leaves of Piper pseudoarboreum against four species of Leishmania spp. promastigote forms, which a orded six known alkamides (1–6). Their structures were established on the basis of spectroscopic and spectrometric analysis. Compounds 2 and 3 were identified as the most promising ones, displaying higher potency against Leishmania spp. promastigotes (IC50 values ranging from 1.6 to 3.8 M) and amastigotes of L. amazonensis (IC50 values ranging from 8.2 to 9.1 M) than the reference drug, miltefosine. The e cacy of (E)-piplartine (3) against L. amazonensis infection in an in vivo model for cutaneous leishmaniasis was evidenced by a significant reduction of the lesion size footpad and spleen parasite burden, similar to those of glucantime used as the reference drug. This study reinforces the therapeutic potential of (E)-piplartine as a promising lead compound against neglected infectious diseases caused by Leishmania parasites.

A phytochemical investigation of the ethanolic extract of leaves from Piper pseudoarboreum led to the isolation of 3-chlorosintenpyridone 1, an unprecedented chlorinated piperamide, together with the known compounds 2-12. Their structures were established based on 1D and 2D (COSY, ROESY, HMQC, and HMBC) NMR spectroscopy, in addition to high resolution mass spectrometry. The proposed biosynthetic pathway of compound 1 is discussed. Compounds 1-12 were tested in vitro for their leishmanicidal potential against promastigote stages of Leishmania amazonensis, L braziliensis, L. guyanensis and L. infantum. Two compounds from this series, the alkamide 1 (IC50 3.4-5.2 μM) and the fatty acid 9 (IC50 18.7- 29.6 μM) displayed higher or similar potency to Miltefosine, used as the reference drug.

Nano-enabled lipid based drug delivery systems offer a platform to overcome challenges encountered with current failed leads in the treatment of parasitic and infectious diseases. When prepared with FDA or EMA approved excipients, they can be readily translated without the need for further toxicological studies, while they remain affordable and amenable to scale-up. Buparvaquone (BPQ), a hydroxynapthoquinone with in vitro activity in the nanomolar range, failed to clinically translate as a viable treatment for visceral leishmaniasis due to its poor oral bioavailability limited by its poor aqueous solubility (BCS Class II drug). Here we describe a self-nanoemulsifying system (SNEDDS) with high loading and thermal stability up to 6 months in tropical conditions able to enhance the solubilisation capacity of BPQ in gastrointestinal media as demonstrated by flow-through cell and dynamic in vitro lipolysis studies. BPQ SNEDDS demonstrated an enhanced oral bioavailbility compared to aqueous BPQ dispersions (probe – sonicated) resulting in an increased plasma AUC0-24 by 55% that is four fold higher than any previous reported values for BPQ formulations. BPQ SNEDDS can be adsorbed on low molecular glycol chitosan polymers forming solid dispersions that when compressed into tablets allow the complete dissolution of BPQ in gastrointestinal media. BPQ SNEDDS and BPQ solid SNEDDS demonstrated potent in vitro efficacy in the nanomolar range (<37 nM) and were able to near completely inhibit parasite replication in the spleen and 48 ± 48 and 56 ± 23% inhibition of the parasite replication in the liver respectively compared to oral miltefosine after daily administration over 10 days. The proposed platform technology can be used to elicit a range of cost-effective and orally bioavailable non-invasive formulations for a range of antiparasitic and infectious disease drugs that are needed for closing the global health innovation gap.

Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease that currently affects 12 million people, and over 1 billion people are at risk of infection. Current chemotherapeutic approaches used to treat this disease are unsatisfactory, and the limitations of these drugs highlight the necessity to develop treatments with improved efficacy and safety. To inform the rational design and development of more efficient therapies, the present study reports a chemoinformatic approach using the ChEMBL database to retrieve benzimidazole as a target scaffold. Our analysis revealed that a limited number of studies had investigated the antileishmanial effects of benzimidazoles. Among this limited number, L. major was the species most commonly used to evaluate the antileishmanial effects of these compounds, whereas L. amazonensis and L. braziliensis were used least often in the reported studies. The antileishmanial activities of benzimidazole derivatives were notably variable, a fact that may depend on the substitution pattern of the scaffold. In addition, we investigated the effects of a benzimidazole derivative on promastigotes and amastigotes of L. infantum and L. amazonensis using a novel fluorometric method. Significant antileishmanial effects were observed on both species, with L. amazonensis being the most sensitive. To the best of our knowledge, this chemoinformatic analysis represents the first attempt to determine the relevance of benzimidazole scaffolds for antileishmanial drug discovery using the ChEMBL database. The present findings will provide relevant information for future structure–activity relationship studies and for the investigation of benzimidazole-derived drugs as potential treatments for leishmaniasis.