RT info:eu-repo/semantics/masterThesis T1 Evaluación de la actividad frente a amebas de vida libre del ácido ursólico y sus derivados A1 Rodríguez Expósito, Rubén Leocadio K1 Queratitis por Acanthamoeba K1 Encefalitis granulomatosa amebiana K1 Antiprotozoario K1 Ácido ursólico AB Acanthamoeba spp. is a genus of opportunistic parasites classified as free-livingamoebas (FLA) that can be found in a multitude of environments and that can generate ocularpathologies such as Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK), or nervous ones such as granulomatousamebic encephalitis (GAE). The great resistance to disinfectants and drugs of the trophozoitesand cysts of this parasite is a therapeutic problem. In addition, the compounds that are currentlyused to treat Acanthamoeba infections are toxic to human tissues. Recently, the study ofbiologically active principles of plant origin shows that they are effective for the treatment ofvarious diseases, including antiprotozoal. In this way, ursolic acid (UA) is a bioactive substancepresent in plants for medicinal use and has shown in several studies to be a good candidate forthe development of antiparasitic drugs. In this study the amoebicidal activity of several UAderivatives against trophozoites and cysts of two strains of Acanthamoeba, A. castellanii Neffand A. griffini was evaluated, based on the activity shown by the UA in previous studies. Allderivatives presented a major amoebicidal activity and a lower cytoxicity than the UA. Themolecules UA5D and UA8 showed a low cytoxicity and a better amoebicidal activity with IC50 of9.67 ± 1.46 and 10.41 ± 1.36 μM for A. castellanii Neff and 8.90 ± 1.55 and 8, 59 ± 1.76 μM forA. griffini, respectively. Taking all the results into account, this study shows that ursolic acid is agood candidate for the alternative development of future amoebicidal drugs. YR 2018 FD 2018 LK http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/10555 UL http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/10555 LA es DS Repositorio institucional de la Universidad de La Laguna RD 29-mar-2024