Different species of Leishmania are responsible for cutaneous, mucocutaneous or
visceral leishmaniasis infections in millions of people around the world [14]. The adverse reactions caused by antileishmanial drugs, emergence of resistance and lack of a
vaccine have motivated the search for new therapeutic options to control this disease. Different sources of antimicrobial molecules are under study as antileishmanial agents, including
peptides with antimicrobial and/or immunomodulatory activity, which have been considered to be potentially active against diverse species of Leishmania[7,39]. This study evaluated the cytotoxicity on dendritic cells, hemolytic activity, leishmanicidal properties on Leishmania panamensis and Leishmania major promastigotes and effectiveness on parasite intracellular forms (dendritic cells infected with L. panamensis and L. major promastigotes), when each parasite in culture was exposed to different concentrations of a group of synthetic
peptides with previously reported antimicrobial properties, which were synthesized based on their naturally occurring reported sequences.
Dermaseptin, Pr-2 and Pr-3 showed inhibitory activity on the growth of L. panamensis promastigotes, while
Andropin and
Cecropin A (with a selectivity index of 4 and 40, respectively) showed specific activity against intracellular forms of this species. The activities of
Andropin and
Cecropin A were exclusively against the intracellular forms of the parasite, therefore indicating the relevance of these two
peptides as potential antileishmanial agents. In the case of L. major promastigotes,
Melittin and
Dermaseptin showed inhibitory activity, the latter also showed a selectivity index of 8 against intracellular forms. These findings suggest
Andropin,
Cecropin A and
Dermaseptin as potential therapeutic tools to treat New and Old World
cutaneous leishmaniasis.