Abstract
Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne neglected tropical disease caused by protozoan parasites of the Leishmania genus and transmitted by the female Phlebotomus and Lutzomyia sand flies. The currently prescribed therapies still rely on pentavalent antimonials, pentamidine, paromomycin, liposomal amphotericin B, and miltefosine. However, their low efficacy, long-course treatment regimen, high toxicity, adverse side effects, induction of parasite resistance and high cost require the need for better drugs given that antileishmanial vaccines may not be available in the near future. Although most drugs are still derived from terrestrial sources, the interest in marine organisms as a potential source of promising novel bioactive natural agents has increased in recent years. About 28,000 compounds of marine origin have been isolated with hundreds of new chemical entities. Recent trends in drug research from natural resources indicated the high interest of aquatic eukaryotic photosynthetic organisms, marine algae in the search for new chemical entities given their broad spectrum and high bioactivities including antileishmanial potential. This current review describes prepared extracts and compounds from marine macroalgae along with their antileishmanial activity and provides prospective insights for antileishmanial drug discovery.
Highlights
Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease caused by protozoan kinetoplastid parasites of the genusLeishmania
The metabolic and physiological capabilities of marine algae that allow them to survive in a complex habitat provide a tremendous potential for the production of unique metabolites, which are not found in terrestrial environment
This review has documented the updated list of marine macroalgae and their isolated compounds that have been tested against Leishmania parasites
Summary
Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease caused by protozoan kinetoplastid parasites of the genus. Leishmaniasis is a disease which is distributed worldwide in the tropics, subtropics, and the mediterranean basin and affect both humans and animals [3,4] This neglected tropical disease represents a major public health problem in 98 endemic countries where it is responsible for approximately 2–4 million new cases and around 70,000 deaths per year [4]. B liquid complex, liposomal amphotericin B and amphotericin B colloidal dispersion These new formulations allow for short-term treatment and provide excellent activity at low concentration with less toxicity. The ability of marine algae to grow through mariculture and their short generation time make them sustainable sources of active ingredients This is considered an environment-friendly strategic approach that overcomes problems associated with the overexploitation of marine resources and the use of destructive collection methods [21]. This review presents the antileishmanial activity of marine macroalgae and their phytochemicals and provides prospective insights for antileishmanial drug discovery
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