Using a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide microassay, previously described as a means of quantifying Leishmania amazonensis in vitro at the amastigote stage (D. Sereno and J. L. Lemesre, Parisitol. Res., in press), we have compared the activities of seven drugs, including those currently used to treat leishmaniasis, against axenically grown amastigote and promastigote...

BACKGROUND Currently, a major problem in the management of visceral leishmaniasis or kala-azar, especially in the Indian subcontinent, is the growing unresponsiveness to conventional antimonial therapy. Membrane bound pyrophophatase (PPases) do not exist in plasma membrane from mammals. Thus, H(+)-PPases from Leishmania plasma membrane might be potential target in rational chemotherapy of the d...

Leishmania donovani are the causative agents of kala-azar in humans. They undergo a developmental program following changes in the environment, resulting in the reversible transformation between the extracellular promastigote form in the sand fly vector and the obligatory intracellular amastigote form in phagolysosomes of macrophages. A host-free differentiation system for L. donovani was used ...

Proteins of the SIR2 (Silent Information Regulator 2) family are characterized by a conserved catalytic domain that exerts unique NAD(+)-dependent deacetylase activity on histones and various other cellular substrates. Previous reports from us have identified a Leishmania infantum gene encoding a cytosolic protein termed LiSIR2RP1 (Leishmania infantum SIR2-related protein 1) that belongs to the...

This experimental study was conducted to assess of effectiveness of two nanogold concentrations against cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) caused by Iranian strain of Leishmania major in BALB/c mice model. Cutaneous lesions were experimentally induced by inoculation with Iranian Leishmania major promastigotes (MRHO/IR/75/ER) in 61 BALB/c mice. The infected mice were enrolled to four groups: intervent...

Intracellular amastigotes of Leishmania major produce 6 x 10(4) copies/cell of a lipophosphoglycan (LPG) that is structurally distinct from the LPG produced by the extracellular promastigote form of L. major, Leishmania donovani, and Leishmania mexicana (reviewed by McConville, M. J. (1991) Cell Biol. Int. Rep. 15, 779-798). L. major amastigote LPG is composed of a lysoalkyl phosphatidylinosito...

Promastigotes of Leishmania braziliensis panamensis were subjected to a heat shock transformation yielding an amastigote-like stage. During the process of conversion, the heat-induced differentiating form displayed an increase in infectivity (as determined by lesion size) accompanied by a total protein composition unlike that of the promastigote and a morphology resembling that of the amastigot...