In Vitro Evaluation of Arylsulfonamide Derivatives against Trypanosoma cruzi

Chagas disease is caused by the parasite protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi) and affects millions of people in over 21 countries in around the world. The main forms of treatment of this disease, benznidazole and nifurtimox, present low cure rates in the chronic phase and often have serious side effects. Herein, we describe the evaluation of the trypanocidal activity of arylsulfonamides. The arylsulfonamides were evaluated in vitro against the amastigote and trypomastigote forms of the parasite. An enantiomerically pure example of arylsulfonamide was also tested. The initial results suggest that the arylsulfonamides evaluated act as DNA binding agents. A moderate activity was monitored against the intracellular forms of T. cruzi, with the best compound exhibiting an IC50 value at 22 μM and a selectivity index of 120. However, the level of activity was not favorable for progressing towards in vivo studies for Chagas disease.