Antiparasitic Activities of Acyl Hydrazones from Cinnamaldehydes and Structurally Related Fragrances.

Background

New drugs for the treatment of protozoal parasite infections such as toxoplasmosis and leishmaniasis are required. Cinnamaldehyde and its derivatives appear to be promising antiparasitic drug candidates.

Methods

Acyl hydrazones of cinnamaldehyde, 4-dimethylaminocinnamaldehyde, and of the synthetic fragrances silvialTM and florhydralTM were prepared and tested for activity against Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) and Leishmania major (L. major) parasites.

Results

Three cinnamaldehyde acyl hydrazones (3-hydroxy-2-naphthoyl 2a and the salicyloyls 2c and 2d) showed good activity against T. gondii, and two compounds derived from cinnamaldehyde and florhydralTM (3-hydroxy-2-naphthoyls 2a and 4a) exhibited moderate activity against L. major promastigotes.

Conclusions

In particular, the identified antitoxoplasmal activities are promising and might lead to the development of new potent and cost-effective drug candidates for the therapy of toxoplasmosis.