In vitro efficacy of voriconazole, posaconazole and sertaconazole against Leishmania major L. and Leishmania tropica L using flow cytometry assays

Background and Objectives: Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) is an endemic disease in many countries and caused by different species of Leishmania parasite. The pentavalent antimonial drugs (e.g. pentostam and Glucantime) are the first line treatment for leishmaniasis, and resistance to these drugs is a serious problem. Among the Pharmaceutical potential alternatives are the azoles, which are antifungal drugs with in vitro and in vivo activity against leishmania. In this study, we evaluate the efficacy of voriconazole, posaconazole and sertaconazole against Leishmania major L. and Leishmania tropica L. Methods and Materials: The promastigotes of the parasites in the exponential growth phase were adjusted to 1.0 × 105 cells/mL after counting with a hemocytometer. The parasites were incubated in various concentrations (0.5–128 μL/mL) of azoles for 2 hours. Then, they were stained by Propidium Iodide (PI) and analyzed using Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). For control negative, RPMI with promastigotes but without the azoles and PI served and as positive control parasite treated with Amphotericin B, one of drug treatment for Leishmaniasis, was used under the same experimental conditions. Results: The azoles examined in this study did not show any lethal concentration (LC50) again standard Iranian parasite strains in the concentration range 0.5–128 μL/mL. But some contrasting relationships between the azoles concentrations and the viability of parasites were observed; so that there was an increased viability of the parasite at low concentrations of the azoles, but an anti-parasitic apoptotic effect was seen at high concentrations of the drugs. Conclusion: It was concluded that there might be higher doses of the azoles can have an effect the relevant activity.