DOI: 10.36347/sajp

Pages: 294-300

Current situation of Leishmaniasis calls for search of more effective drug. Multiplication of Leishmania resembles the development of mammalian tumor cells and both are regulated by the same mechanisms and having similar CDKs as cell cycle regulators. Our approach here is to test known CDK inhibitors on the growth of different stages of Leishmania spp. Field isolates of L. donovani was used in this study to check for the virulence effect (if any) on the possible inhibitory effect. We have tested the effect of Olomoucine on the growth of L. donovani promastigotes and Flavopiridol on the growth of L. mexicana axenic-amastigotes. Our data showed that Leishmania promastigotes (L. donovani) and amastigotes (L. mexicana) susceptibility to CDK chemical inhibitors is parasite intrinsic, stage specific, and macrophage independent. The Leishmania parasite has low sensitivity to chemical inhibitors, when tested in vitro culture. The amastigotes is more sensitive to Flavopiridol than the promastigotes. These data will be useful as baseline for macrophage infectivity and other preclinical studies. Our findings suggest the possibility of repurposing the anticancer drugs as anti-leishmanial and consequently reducing the cost of developing new drug