Thio- and Semicarbazones: Hope in the Search for Treatment of Leishmaniasis and Chagas Disease

Background: Trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis cause severe infections in humans and domestic animals in the tropics. Although typical diseases in Latin America, globalization and the migration of infected people has spread these diseases to countries in North America, Asia and Europe. Currently available drugs are not effective in the chronic phase, as well as cause side effects and develop resistance. Results: Among the chemical groups studied as potential anti-T. cruzi and anti-Leishmania are the thio-and semicarbazones, which are easy to obtain, possess structural versatility and can sequester metal. In this article, we present an overview of thio-and semicarbazones associated with heterocycles, indanones, and styryl and aryl skeletons, including their metal complexes with antimony, platinum, palladium, copper, ruthenium, rhenium, manganese and vanadium. Conclusion: Because of the efficiency and selectivity that some of these derivatives have shown, it can be concluded that thio-and semicarbazones constitute promising chemical scaffolds in the search for new anti-parasitic agents.