SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Pharmacology of Infectious Diseases
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1642005
Flavonoids in the Treatment of Leishmania amazonensis: A Review of Efficacy and Mechanisms
Provisionally accepted
Vinicius Lopes Lessa1,2*
Guilherme Drescher1*
Gustavo Gonçalves1
João Carlos Baptista Lopes3
Rafael F.C. Vieira2,4
Fabiano Borges Figueiredo1- 1Fiocruz Paraná ICC, Curitiba, Brazil
- 2Universidade Federal do Parana, Curitiba, Brazil
- 3Centro Universitario Campos de Andrade, Curitiba, Brazil
- 4UNC Charlotte, Charlotte, United States
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Leishmaniasis is caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania. In recent years, natural compounds have attracted significant interest due to their potential efficacy and lower toxicity compared to synthetic chemical compounds. This review analyzed studies retrieved from the PubMed and Google Scholar databases, focusing on the use of flavonoids against Leishmania amazonensis. Only studies testing flavonoids with known activity against the parasite were included and categorized according to their leishmanicidal efficacy. Based on the criteria established to identify the most comprehensive studies, 52 were included in the analysis. Of these, three studies met at least 13 of the evaluation parameters (70%) and were considered the most complete. Analysis of IC50 values reported in these articles revealed the activity of 69 flavonoids. Among the assays on amastigote forms, 33 reported high activity, and six reported moderate activity. For assays on promastigote forms, 32 experiments reported high activity, 16 showed moderate activity, and two demonstrated weak activity. Of the flavonoids tested, morelloflavone-4'''O-β-D-glycosyl and pinostrobin showed the highest activity, while naringenin exhibited the weakest activity, specifically against promastigote forms. In the cytotoxicity assays, carajurin and luteolin exhibited the highest selectivity indices reported in the articles. This review emphasizes the importance of studying flavonoids, particularly those extracted from plants and propolis, to advance our understanding and treatment of L. amazonensis infections.
Keywords: natural compounds, Flavonoids, Leishmania amazonensis, in vitro assays, Treatment
Received: 10 Jun 2025; Accepted: 25 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lessa, Drescher, Gonçalves, Lopes, Vieira and Figueiredo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Vinicius Lopes Lessa, Fiocruz Paraná ICC, Curitiba, Brazil
Guilherme Drescher, Fiocruz Paraná ICC, Curitiba, Brazil
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.