The in vivo and in vitro action of 4-amino-5-imidazolecarboxamide in trypanosomatid flagellates

Abstract 4-Amino-5-imidazolecarboxamide, but not its riboside or ribotide, is inhibitory to the growth of promastigotes of Leishmania donovani, L. braziliensis, L. tarentolae , and L. mexicana , eventually causing cell lysis. Conversely, it is not inhibitory to the growth of epimastigotes of Trypanosoma cruzi . This substituted imidazole proved to be an excellent inhibitor of guanine deaminase from all of the trypanosomatids used in this study, with K i values in the μM range.