A utilização de Artesunato e Cloroquina como alternativa terapêutica para tratamento de Leishmaniose tegumentar americana: uma revisão

Objective: To carry out a review of studies published between 2016 and 2021 focusing on the treatment of Leishmaniasis with the drugs Artesunate and Chloroquine. Methods: This is an integrative literature review that was produced using the following steps: identification of the theme, formulation of the guiding question, definition of descriptors and selection of databases, establishment of exclusion and inclusion criteria of the studies, sampling of the literature and pre-selection of articles (reading of abstracts and titles); reading of the selected studies and, finally, interpretation of the results. Results: 134 studies were found for the drug Artesunate, 2 of which were included in this research and show the effectiveness of treatment with Artesunate in in vitro experiments against the species Leishmania amazonensis, L. tropica, L. infantum and L. donovani, as well as in in vivo assays against L. amazonensis. For the drug Chloroquine, 11 articles were found, 3 of which were included in the present study. Of these, two studies evaluated the action of this drug in human trials through intralesional and oral administration, and one evaluated its activity in vitro and in vivo against L. amazonensis. Final considerations: This article highlights studies that present Artesunate and Chloroquine as promising drugs for the treatment of Leishmaniasis. The low number of studies suggests the need for further investigations with in vivo tests and new forms of treatment (topical use) for the lesions.