Evaluation of anti-Leishmania properties of lactam organic molecules for the treatment of leishmaniasis

Leishmania are protozoan parasites that cause a complex of diseases known as leishmaniasis. There are six species causing disease in humans: L. tropica, L. major, L. mexicana, L. braziliensis, L. donovani, and L. infantum. We use L. major in lab. It is the causative agent of cutaneous leishmaniasis and found in sparsely inhabited regions in west and central Africa, the Middle East, and India. In cutaneous leishmaniasis, sand fly vectors transmit the parasite through a bite. Ulcers appear at the site of the sand fly bite. Severity of ulcers depend on age and other factors. 350 million people worldwide are at risk of becoming infected with leishmaniasis. Surprisingly, there is an overlap between leishmaniasis infected areas and areas of increasing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections. Thirty-five countries have reported co-infections. Current anti-Leishmania drugs are toxic with serious side effects. Consequently, there’s a need to develop safer therapeutic methods. Organic compounds that belong to the lactam group were tested in vitro to identify potential anti-Leishmania drugs. Assays were carried out to evaluate the activity of tested compounds against Leishmania parasites. 1% DMSO was used as negative control and Amphotericin B was used as positive control. DMSO negative control is justified by its use to dissolve candidate compounds. Amp B is one drug used to treat human leishmaniasis. Alamar Blue dye was used to evaluate activity of compounds. In living cells, Alamar Blue is reduced from blue to red and wells show high optical densities such as 0.85 after the spectrophotometer read