Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
ESCMID GLOBAL, Vienna, Avusturya, 11 - 15 Nisan 2025, ss.3426-3427, (Özet Bildiri)
Background Antimonial compounds have been used successfully in the treatment of leishmaniasis for years, but due to the increasing number of resistant cases the tendency towards expensive, toxic but effective drugs has increased together with new drug research studies. Here, anti-leishmanial activities of different Aspergillus extracts prepared in different media were investigated on clinical isolates of both Leishmania Virus (LRV)-positive and LRV-negative Leishmania major isolates, and L. infantum in Turkiye. In addition, treatment-related changes in the expression of related genes were measured in two stages. Methods Initially, four Aspergillus isolates (TUCIM 2874, 3508, 3616 and 3766 received from Vienna Technical University) and one indigenous isolate (Usak6) were tested on LRV-positive and negative isolates of L. major. Expression differences of some pathogenesis-related genes (DHFR, GP63, TRYR) were also assessed. Those found to be effective (Aspergillus 2874 and 3508) were then grown on five media and compared with Amphotericin B (AmpB) on L. infantum. Treatment-related changes in the expression of 14 pathogenesis-related genes were also assessed. Results Initially, the supernatants of five Aspergillus isolates of 2874 and 3508 grown on Aspergillus Minimal Medium were found as effective as meglumine antimonate. Effective doses of meglumine antimonate were 128 µg/ml and 256 µg/ml for LRV-negative and LRV-positive L. major. In LRV-positive L. major, DHFR gene’s expression increased threefold, while GP63 gene’s expression decreased threefold compared to LRV-negative. In the 2nd stage of the study, TFA extract of Asp3508 produced in malt extract medium was found effective at lower dose than AmpB, and the expression of calcineurin b, associated with apoptosis in L. infantum, increased 4-fold. Asp3508 and AmpB were found to have the same effect on gene expression in 8 of 10 genes in the same direction (five for upwards and three for downwards). Conclusions The TFA extract of Asp3508 was found to be a promising anti-leishmanial agent in vitro. Active compounds inside Asp3508 TFA extract will be investigated and in vivo studies are planned together with further gene expression assessments after treatment trials.