Authors

B Rossi-Bergmann¹;  ¹ Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Discussion

Current chemotherapy of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) uses systemic administration of toxic drugs that cause severe adverse reactions. Moreover these require multiple painful injections that lead to a high therapy evasion rate. Consequently new drugs with better delivery systems are required. We report the development of a single-dose treatment for CL based on PLGA polymeric particles loaded with a plant-derived synthetic chalcone. Encapsulated chalcone afforded enhanced intracellular efficacy and provided effective, long-lasting parasite growth control when given subcutaneously to Leishmania amazonensis-infected mice, with only a transient local inflammatory reaction as seen by histopathological analysis. Full details of these advances together with studies to probe the molecular target and mode of chalcone action will be presented.