Studies on the effectiveness of diarylheptanoids derivatives against Leishmania amazonensis

In a preview work we demonstrated that diarylheptanoids extracted from Cent rolobium sclerophyllum are very active against Leishmania amazonensis proma stigotes. In order to continue our studies with these class of compounds, w e decided to evaluate the activity of several diarylheptanoids derived from curcumin (diferuloyl methane) against the extracellular form (promastigote s) of L. amazonensis. Furthermore, an experiment against the extracellular form of the parasite (amastigotes) was carried out, comparing the most acti ve compound among the curcumin derivatives (the methylcurcumin) with des-O- methylcentrolobine, the most active diarylheptanoid derived from C. sclerop hyllum.