The importance of nucleoside hydrolase enzyme (NH) in studies to treatment of Leishmania: A review

•The treatment and development of new agents for leishmaniasis disease.•Obtention of the L. donovani nucleoside hydrolase (NH).•Inhibition of the enzyme nucleoside hydrolase.•Evaluation of NH inhibition by UV and NMR.•Docking of some agents with nucleoside hydrolase.

Leishmania is a genus of trypanosomes, which are responsible for leishmaniasis disease, a major trypanosome infection in humans. In recent years, published studies have shown that the search for new drugs for Leishmania treatments has intensified. Through technique modeling it has been possible to develop new compounds, which act as nucleoside hydrolase (NH) inhibitors. The effect of these enzymes is the hydrolysis of certain RNA nucleotides, which include uridine and inosine, necessary for the protozoa to transform certain nucleosides obtained from infected individuals into nucleobases for the preparation of their DNA. The obtention of NH inhibitors is very important to eliminate leishmaniasis disease in infected individuals. The aim of this study is to discuss the research and development of new agents for the treatment of Leishmania, and to stimulate the formulation of new NH inhibitors.

Graphical abstractDownload high-res image (177KB)Download full-size image