Synthesis and biological evaluation of new quinoline derivatives as antileishmanial and antitrypanosomal agents.

As a part of our project aimed at developing new safe chemotherapeutic agents against tropical diseases, a series of aryl derivatives of 2- and 3-aminoquinoline, some of them new compounds, was designed, synthesized, and evaluated as antiproliferative agents against Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite responsible for American trypanosomiasis (Chagas' disease), and Leishmania mexicana, the etiological agent of Leishmaniasis. Some of them showed a remarkable activity as parasite growth inhibitors. Fluorine-containing derivatives 11b and 11c were more than twice more potent than geneticin against intracellular promastigote form of Leishmania mexicana exhibiting both IC50 values of 41.9 μM. The IC50 values corresponding to fluorine and chlorine derivatives 11b-d were in the same order than benznidazole against epimastigote form. These drugs are interesting examples of effective antiparasitic agents with outstanding potential not only as lead drugs but also to be used for further in vivo studies. In addition, the obtained compounds showed no toxicity in Vero cells, which makes them good candidates to control tropical diseases. Regarding the probable mode of action, assayed quinoline derivatives interacted with hemin, inhibiting its degradation and generating oxidative stress that is not counteracted by the antioxidant defense system of the parasite.