Comparative effects of 4-aminopyrazolopyrimidine, its 2'-deoxyriboside derivative, and allopurinol on in vitro growth of American Leishmania species.

When assayed on promastigotes of 10 American Leishmania isolates (including Leishmania brasiliensis and mexicana species), 4-aminopyrazolopyrimidine (AAP) was severalfold more active than allopurinol as a leishmanistatic drug. There were some intraspecific and interspecific differences among the isolates in their susceptibility to the inhibitory effects of APP and allopurinol. APP-2'-deoxyriboside did not affect the 10 isolates tested. This was surprising, because allopurinol riboside has previously been shown to be more active than allopurinol. In all of the American Leishmania isolates tested, the metabolism of [14C]6-APP resulted in a high level of HPP-ribose-5'-P and lower levels of APP-ribose-5'-P, APP-ribose-5'-PP, and APP-ribose-5'-PPP. MP, LR, LBY, and JAP isolates strongly converted APP into APP derivatives, thus perhaps explaining their greater susceptibility to the inhibitory effects of APP. With the 10 American Leishmania isolates tested, several purines reversed the inhibitory effects of allopurinol, but only adenine countered the inhibitory effects of APP. This suggests biochemical differences in the mechanisms of action of allopurinol and APP. Finally, and contrary to previous claims, the reversal by purines of the allopurinol-induced growth inhibition was not a Leishmania species-specific effect.