Activity of Cuban Plants Extracts against Leishmania amazonensis

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 for Leishmania infections, and conventional treatments are unsatisfactory; therefore, antileishmanial drugs are urgently needed. In this work, 48 alcoholic extracts from 46 Cuban plants were evaluated by an in vitro bioassay against Leishmania amazonensis. Furthermore, their toxicity was assayed against murine macrophage. The three most potent extracts against the amastigote stage of Leishmania amazonensis were from Hura crepitans, Bambusa vulgaris, and Simarouba glauca.