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Antileishmanial activity of the Antarctic red algae Iridaea cordata (Gigartinaceae; Rhodophyta)

  • VI REDEALGAS WORKSHOP (RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL)
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Abstract

Leishmaniasis is considered a neglected disease and affects billions around the world, currently presenting few therapeutic options, which makes the development of new antileishmanial drugs urgent. Secondary metabolites from marine and terrestrial organisms are important sources of new chemical entities. Herein, the potential activity of crude extracts and fractions from the Antarctic macroalga Iridaea cordata (Turner) Bory de Saint-Vincent was studied against promastigote and intracellular amastigotes forms of Leishmania amazonensis. The cytotoxicity of the active fractions was evaluated on macrophages and 3T3 BALB/c fibroblasts. The chemical profile of volatile substances was analyzed using the GC-MS technique. The fractions IC-FE (IC50-AMA = 23.6 ± 3.4 μg mL−1; SI > 11) and IC-FF (IC50-AMA = 12.4 ± 1.2 μg mL−1; SI > 24) showed promising activity against amastigotes and higher selectivity to the parasite rather than to the mammalian host cells, when compared to the reference drug amphotericin B (IC50-AMA = 5.9 ± 0.3 μg mL−1; SI = 3.9). Their estimated LD50 in rodents are also higher than that in amphotericin B (LD50 IC-FE = 594.5 ± 25.87 mg kg−1; LD50 IC-FE = 580.1 ± 11.84 mg kg−1; LD50 amphoter = 172.20 ± 2.40 mg kg−1). The chemical profile of these fractions showed the presence of phthalates, esters, ketones, fatty acids, and carboxylic acids, which might be contributing alone or synergistically to the observed antileishmanial activity. Consequently, I. cordata might be used to identify new antileishmanial compounds.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are also grateful to Alessandro Desideri, Aline P. Martins, Beatriz Brunelli, Karla Peresque, Marcia Graminha, and Rodrigo M. Pereira, who collected the red macroalga I. cordata during the OPERANTAR XXXIII in Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica.

Funding

The authors received financial support from the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) (2017/03552-5; 2016/06931-4) and MCTI/CNPq/FNDCT-Ação Transversal Programa Antártico Brasileiro (Processo no. 407588/2013-2), and scholarships from the Fundação Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, 14040-903, Brazil

    Karen C. Rangel, Hosana M. Debonsi & Lorena R. Gaspar

  2. Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Departamento de Análises Clínicas, Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho”, Araraquara, SP, 14800-903, Brazil

    Leandro C. Clementino & Márcia A. S. Graminha

  3. Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, 05508-000, Brazil

    Leonardo Z. Vilela & Pio Colepicolo

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  1. Karen C. Rangel
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Correspondence to Karen C. Rangel or Lorena R. Gaspar.

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Animal experiments were approved by the Ethics Committee for Animal Experimentation of São Paulo State University (UNESP) and the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (CEUA/FCF/CAr, 42/2016) in agreement with the guidelines of the Sociedade Brasileira de Ciência de Animais de Laboratorio (SBCAL) and of the Conselho Nacional de Controle da Experimentação Animal (CONCEA).

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Rangel, K.C., Debonsi, H.M., Clementino, L.C. et al. Antileishmanial activity of the Antarctic red algae Iridaea cordata (Gigartinaceae; Rhodophyta). J Appl Phycol 31, 825–834 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-018-1592-1

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