The aim of the present work was to evaluate antileishmanial activity of Astronium fraxinifolium and Plectranthus amboinicus. For the in vitro tests, essential oil of P. amboinicus (OEPA) and ethanolic extracts from A. fraxinifolium (EEAF) were incubated with 106  promastigotes of L. (Viannia) braziliensis. The OEPA was able to reduce the parasite growth after 48 h; nonetheless, all the EEAFs could totally abolish the parasite growth. For the in vivo studies, BALB/c mice were infected subcutaneously (s.c.) with 107   L. braziliensis promastigotes. Treatment was done by administering OEPA intralesionally (i.l.) for 14 days. No difference was found in lesion thickness when those animals were compared with the untreated animals. Further, golden hamsters were infected s.c. with 106   L. braziliensis promastigotes. The first protocol of treatment consisted of ethanolic leaf extract from A. fraxinifolium (ELEAF) administered i.l. for 4 days and a booster dose at the 7th day. The animals showed a significant reduction of lesion thickness in the 6th week, but it was not comparable to the animals treated with Glucantime. The second protocol consisted of 15 daily intralesional injections. The profiles of lesion thickness were similar to the standard treatment. In conclusion, in vivo studies showed a high efficacy when the infected animals were intralesionally treated with leaf ethanolic extract from A. fraxinifolium.

Background: In 2015, the detection rate of leprosy in Santana do Ipanema municipality, Alagoas state, Brazil, was 39.3 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, and among young people below 15 years of age, it was 32.8 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. Material and methods: A prospective study was carried out from 2015 to 2017, in Santana do Ipanema city, with 69 leprosy contacts in the age group of 4–15 years. Measurement of serum IgM, IgG, and IgA against phenolic glycolipid antigen-1 (PGL-1) was done by an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: A high frequency of positive anti-PGL-1 IgM was found in both paucibacillary and multibacillary contacts. Twenty-three participants presented suspected lesions and 45 did not. In both groups a high frequency of positive IgM was found. In regard to anti-PGL-1 IgG, it was found a strong association between its positivity and the presence of lesions (relative risk of 3.25). Eight new cases of leprosy were diagnosed, five of which were seropositive for anti-PGL-1. Again, a striking association was found between positive IgG and leprosy (relative risk of 8.5). No significant association was found between IgM isotype and disease, nor between IgA and disease. Conclusions: The present study reinforces the importance of measuring the three anti-PGL-1 isotypes in follow-up studies of leprosy contacts. Moreover, positive anti-PGL-1 IgG is associated with a high associated risk of disease.

Despite the limiting factors, anti-PGL1 IgA correlates to IgM levels and it could be considered as a possible laboratorial tool to be also used, for instance, in serological follow-up studies.

Ruthenium‐based coordination complexes are compounds with great pharmacological potential. Once their toxicity and pharmacokinetics properties can be easily modulated changing the ligands on the six coordination sites of the metal, those species can present a broad spectrum of applications, such as: antineoplastic, bactericide, antiparasitic, vasorelaxant, among others. However, antioxidant properties of that kind of substance is still poorly explored, even after recent works have shown evidence that nitrosyl ruthenium complexes can scavenger free radicals. In addition, nitro‐imidazole derivatives are organic compounds with antioxidant properties and are able to work as ligands in coordination complexes. Considering that, the compounds cis‐[Ru(NO2)(bpy)2(4NIMN)](PF6) (1) and cis‐[RuCl(bpy)2(MTZ)](PF6) (2), where bpy=2,2′‐bipyridine, 4NIMN=4‐nitroimidazole and MTZ=metronidazole, were selected for analysis. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate in vitro antioxidant activity of those ruthenium complexes. The complexes were synthesized using microwave‐assisted synthesis, adapting methods previously described. Structural characterization was held through spectroscopic and spectrometric techniques, confirming the proposed structures. Cytotoxicity of the compounds at 3.12 to 100.0 μM was evaluated on A549 human lung carcinoma, RAW 264.7 murine macrophages, AGS human gastric carcinoma cells and human neutrophils at 5×106 cells/mL. No significant cytotoxicity was observed at any concentration of the compounds. Antioxidant properties were evaluated by quantifying malondialdehyde (MDA) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and by evaluating superoxide dismutase activity in LPS‐stimulated RAW 264.7 cells treated with 1 and 2 at 3 – 25 μM. All the concentrations of both complexes were able to significantly reduce the production of superoxide anion in relation to the vehicle group, similarly to the reference treatment (α – tocopherol) All concentrations could also reduce the amount of MDA and ROS produced. Finally, the ruthenium complexes 1 and 2 were not cytotoxic to human neutrophils, lung and gastric carcinomas, and presented potent antioxidant properties. Tests are being carried out in order to elucidate antioxidant mechanisms and to analyze possible anti‐inflammatory effects.Support or Funding InformationCAPES; CNPqThis abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.