Identification of Novel Antileishmanial Chemotypes By High-Throughput Virtual and In Vitro Screening

Background

Leishmaniasis is a deadly protozoan parasitic disease and a significant health problem in underdeveloped and developing countries. The global spread of the parasite, coupled with the emergence of drug resistance and severe side effects associated with existing treatments, has necessitated the identification of new and potential drugs.

Objective

This study aimed to identify promising compounds for the treatment of leishmaniasis by targeting two essential enzymes of Leishmania donovani: trypanothione reductase (Try-R) and trypanothione synthetase (Try-S).

Methods

High-throughput virtual and in vitro screening of in-house and commercial databases was conducted. A pharmacophore model with seven features was developed and validated using the Guner-Henery method. The pharmacophore-based virtual screening yielded 690 hits, which were further filtered through Lipinski’s rule, ADMET analysis, and molecular docking against Try-R and Try-S. Molecular dynamics studies were performed on selected compounds, and in vitro experiments were conducted to evaluate their activity against the promastigote and amastigote forms of L. donovani.

Results

The virtual screening and subsequent analysis identified 33 promising compounds. Molecular dynamics studies of two compounds (comp-1 and comp-2) demonstrated stable binding interactions with the target enzymes and high affinity. In vitro experiments revealed that 13 compounds exhibited moderate activity against both the promastigote (IC₅₀, 41 µM–76 µM) and the amastigote (IC₅₀, 44 µM–72 µM) forms of L. donovani. Compounds 1 and 2 showed the highest percent inhibition and the lowest IC₅₀ values.

Conclusion

The identified compounds demonstrated significant inhibitory activity against Leishmania donovani and stable interactions with target enzymes. These findings suggest that the compounds could serve as promising leads for developing new treatments for leishmaniasis.