In silico and in vitro tests can reveal promising anti-leishmania activity for natural products and their derivatives. The aim of this study was to investigate in silico the pharmacological activities of potential new chalcones and their leishmanicidal potential in vitro. The in silico study was carried out using the PASS, MolPredictX and Molegro Virtual Docker 6.0 programs. Antiparasitic activity was assessed in axenic promastigote and amastigote forms of Leishmania braziliensis. The cytotoxicity tests used the J77G8 cell line. The chalcones exhibited 50% cytotoxic concentration values (CC50) values > 50 μM. Chalcone 4 (named FERAI) presented the best activity with concentration for 50% of promastigotes and intracellular parasites forms (EC50) of 9.75 ± 1.7 and 10.13 ± 1.7 μM for promastigote and amastigote, respectively. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) testing presented increased ROS levels in the parasite at the FERAI concentrations of 10 μM (56.33%), 20 μM (61.76%) and 30 μM (67.13%). Molecular docking revealed interactions (binding energy) between FERAI and the enzymes UDP-glycosyl pyrophosphorylase (-56.8384), dihydroorotate-dehydrogenase (-132.276) and trypanothione-reductase (-151.281). Our results demonstrated the anti-leishmanial activity of chalcones, especially FERAI, with a noted raising of ROS levels in the parasite. Molecular docking revealed dihydroorotate dehydrogenase and trypanothione reductase as potential pharmacological targets for FERAI. antileishmania anti leishmania derivatives PASS 60 6 0 6. programs braziliensis JG J G J77G line CC50 CC (CC50 5 named EC50 EC (EC50 975 9 75 9.7 17 1 7 1. 1013 13 10.1 respectively (ROS 56.33%, 5633 56.33% , 56 33 (56.33%) 2 61.76% 6176 61 76 (61.76% 3 67.13%. 6713 67.13% . 67 (67.13%) binding energy UDPglycosyl UDP glycosyl 56.8384, 568384 56.8384 8384 (-56.8384) dihydroorotatedehydrogenase 132.276 132276 132 276 (-132.276 trypanothionereductase 151.281. 151281 151.281 151 281 (-151.281) antileishmanial leishmanial CC5 (CC5 EC5 (EC5 97 9. 101 10. 563 56.33 (56.33% 61.76 617 (61.76 671 67.13 (67.13% 56838 56.838 838 (-56.8384 132.27 13227 27 (-132.27 15128 151.28 15 28 (-151.281 (CC (EC 56.3 (56.33 61.7 (61.7 67.1 (67.13 5683 56.83 83 (-56.838 132.2 1322 (-132.2 1512 151.2 (-151.28 56. (56.3 61. (61. 67. (67.1 568 56.8 8 (-56.83 132. (-132. 151. (-151.2 (56. (61 (67. (-56.8 (-132 (-151. (56 (6 (67 (-56. (-13 (-151 (5 ( (-56 (-1 (-15 (-5 (-

Physalis angulata L., Solanaceae, é uma erva anual utilizada na medicina popular em muitos países tropicais e subtropicais. Apesar dos extratos da P. angulata apresentarem uma grande variedade de substâncias, pouco é conhecido sobre a sua atividade farmacológica. Neste trabalho foi investigado a atividade antileishmania in vitro de seco-esteroides (fisalinas) purificados da P. angulata. O tratamento com as fisalinas B, F e G causou uma inibição concentração-dependente do crescimento de promastigotas de Leishmania amazonensis em cultura axênica, com valores de IC50 de 6,8, 1,4, e 9,2 μM respectivamente. A fisalina D foi menos ativa, com valores de IC50 de 30,5 μM. Foi também observada uma atividade leishmanicida em culturas de outras espécies de Leishmania (L. major, L. braziliensis e L. chagasi). Nossos resultados demonstram que as fisalinas inibem o crescimento dos promastigotas com o tratamento de espécies de Leishmania do Velho e do Novo Mundos e sugerem o potencial terapêutico destas moléculas na leishmaniose.

Physalis angulata L., Solanaceae, is an annual herb commonly used in popular medicine in many tropical and subtropical countries. P. angulata extracts contain a variety of substances, but little is known about their pharmacological activities. In this work we investigated the in vitro antileishmanial activity of seco-steroids (physalins) purified from P. angulata. Addition of physalins B, F, and G caused a concentration-dependent inhibition in the growth of L. amazonensis promastigotes, being the IC50 values were 6.8, 1.4, and 9.2 μM, respectively. Physalin D was less active and had an IC50 value of 30.5 μM. Physalins were also active in cultures of other Leishmania species (L. major, L. braziliensis, and L. chagasi). Our results demonstrate the potent antileishmanial activity of physalins in cultures of Leishmania species of the New and Old Worlds and suggest the therapeutic potential of these seco-steroids in leishmaniasis.