Compared Antileishmanial Activity of Clomiphene and Tamoxifen.

Authors

Sergio Sifontes-Rodríguez, Alma Reyna Escalona-Montaño, Ricardo Mondragón Flores, Niurka Mollineda-Diogo, Lianet Monzote Fidalgo, Mónica Edith Mondragón-Castelán, Fedra Alardin-Gutiérrez, Lourdes Araceli López-Enzana, Daniel Andrés Sánchez-Almaraz, Ofelia Pérez-Olvera, María Magdalena Aguirre-García

Published in

Biomedicines. Volume 12. Issue 10. Oct 09, 2024. Epub Oct 09, 2024.

Abstract

Drug repositioning is an efficient strategy to search for new treatment alternatives that is especially valuable for neglected parasitic diseases such as leishmaniasis. Tamoxifen and raloxifene are selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) that have shown antileishmanial activity. Clomiphene is a SERM structurally similar to tamoxifen, whose antileishmanial potential is unknown. That is why the objective of the present work was to evaluate its antileishmanial activity in vitro and in vivo in comparison with tamoxifen. The inhibitory effect against promastigotes of L. amazonensis, L. major, and L. mexicana was evaluated for both compounds, as well as the cytotoxicity against mouse peritoneal macrophages, the growth inhibitory activity in intracellular amastigotes of L. mexicana, and the in vivo activity in mice experimentally infected with L. mexicana. Clomiphene was about twice as active as tamoxifen against both promastigotes and intracellular amastigotes, with IC₅₀ values of 1.7-3.3 µM for clomiphene and 2.9-6.4 µM for tamoxifen against all three species of promastigotes and 2.8 ± 0.2 µM and 3.7 ± 0.3 µM, respectively, against L. mexicana amastigotes. Clomiphene structurally affected several parasite organelles in a concentration-dependent fashion, leading to the death of both promastigotes and intracellular amastigotes. Interestingly, the macrophage host cell did not appear damaged by any of the clomiphene concentrations tested. With oral administration at 20 mg/kg for 14 days, both compounds showed similar effects in terms of reducing the growth of the lesions, as well as the weight of the lesions and the parasite load at the end of the follow-up period. The results showed the potential of SERMs as antileishmanial drugs and support further testing of clomiphene and other compounds of this pharmacological group.

PMID:
39457604
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 26 Jun 2026.

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