Fungal Metabolites and Leishmaniasis: A Review

Among the most neglected tropical diseases in the world, one is leishmaniasis, which is caused by parasites that belongs to protozoans of the genus Leishmania. Leishmaniasis can be controlled profoundly by using chemotherapeutic agents which includes pentavalent antimonials, paromomycin, pentamidine, amphotericin B and miltefosine, as it depends greatly on it. The only oral drug used with high cure rate is miltefosine used for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis but its observed susceptibility decrease in countries like India where it is extensively used. Hence, the development of novel antileishmanial agents with good potency and better therapeutic profile is very necessary. Here we review diverse classes of secondary metabolites, focusing on anti-parasitic compounds, biosynthesized by fungi.