Antileishmanial activity, cytotoxicity and QSAR analysis of synthetic dihydrobenzofuran lignans and related benzofurans

A synthetic dihydrobenzofuran lignan showed a high activity against chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum (strain K1) (IC50 0.43 μg/mL) and Leishmania donovani (axenic amastigotes) (IC50 0.12 μg/mL), which was confirmed in an infected macrophage assay (IC50 0.19 μg/mL).