Antiproliferative and ultrastructural effects of phenethylamine derivatives on promastigotes and amastigotes of Leishmania (Leishmania) infantum chagasi.

Leishmania (Leishmania) infantum chagasi is one of the agents that cause visceral leishmaniasis. This disease occurs more frequently in third world countries, such as Brazil. The treatment is arduous, and is dependent on just a few drugs like the antimonial derivatives and amphotericin B. Moreover, these drugs are not only expensive, but they can also cause severe side effects and require long-term treatment. Therefore, it is very important to find new compounds that are effective against leishmaniasis. In the present work we evaluated a new group of synthetic amides against the promastigote and amastigote forms of L. infantum chagasi. The results showed that one of these amides in particular, presented very effective activity against the promastigotes and amastigotes of L. infantum chagasi at low concentrations and it also presented low toxicity for mammal cells, which makes this synthetic amide a promising drug for combating leishmaniasis.