Filing Date: 2003-06-20.--Priority Data:
ES P200201436 (2002-06-21)
The invention relates to a therapeutic compound against Leishmania infection and to the use thereof. Said invention has for the first time demonstrated the role of the DC-SIGN (Dendritic cell-specific ICAM 3 grabbing non-integrin) receptor, which is present on the surface of dendritic cells, in the process of binding the Leishmania parasite to human eukaryotic cells, among others, dendritic cells, macrophages and cells derived from monocytes. The invention relates to a novel therapeutic compound against Leishmania infection, which can block or cancel the binding of the infectious forms of the Leishmania parasite to the DC-SIGN receptor which is present in eukaryotic cells, among others, human dendritic cells and certain macrophage populations, and the subsequent inhibition of the internalisation of the parasite.