Treating an old disease with new tricks: strategies based on host-guest chemistry for leishmaniasis therapy

This critical mini-review is focused on leishmaniasis, namely on the factors causing the re-emergence of the disease, the available therapies and their limitations. It then looks into the tools available within the field of host-guest chemistry and that are now arising as innovative solutions for the treatment of infections caused by different species of the Leishmania genus. These include the use of cyclodextrins as medicinal agents per se, as well as the formation of cyclodextrin inclusion complexes for the amelioration of biophysical properties and in vivo activities of leishmanicidal drugs. A focus is given on the practical utility of the results reported in the literature, evaluating their potencial of transition from the bench to the market.