A Review on Anti-leishmanial Activity of Terpenes and Chitosan as a Carrier for Nano-formulations

Leishmaniasis is one of the most devastating and fatal diseases in humans that has been known to mankind and is caused by the parasite Leishmania. It is destructive since no vaccination is available and existing medicines are proving ineffective because of resistance development. A need for the discovery of newer drugs has emerged. The use of natural products for the prevention, diagnosis, and cure of diseases has rapidly increased. Following the trend, research in the field of natural products for treating leishmaniasis has also picked up. In the present review, the focus is on terpenes as anti-leishmanial agents. Terpenes are the least studied natural products for the treatment of the disease. The other part of the review covers the use of chitosan as an anti-leishmanial agent and other formulations of chitosan as a carrier in nano-formulations. From the survey, it was found that the essential oils containing terpenes are very effective. Moreover, the chitosan-based nanocarriers showed potent anti-leishmanial activity. The combined use of natural products and newer technologies for the delivery of drugs can eradicate various diseases.