Como o antimônio é a espécies ativa no medicamento leishmanicida, antimoniato de meglumina (AM), o conhecimento da concentração exata do metal é crítico para o seu uso experimental e clínico. Por outro lado, o papel da cisteína no metabolismo dos antimoniais deve ser esclarecido. No presente trabalho, a reação de redução do SbV pela cisteína foi caracterizada cineticamente. As ordens de reação com relação ao Sb e à cisteína foram iguais a 1,0 e 3,3, respectivamente. A constante de velocidade da reação de redução foi dependente do pH. Essa reação foi usada para reduzir o SbV no AM, para subseqüente determinação fotométrica do SbIII com o cromóforo vermelho de bromopirogalol. Eficiências de redução de 100% foram alcançadas em pH 3. Soluções apresentando concentrações de Sb baixas como 0,5 mmol L-1 foram dosadas com sucesso. O método foi também aplicado para a determinação de Sb em formulações lipossomais do AM.

Since antimony is the active species in the antileishmanial drug meglumine antimoniate (MA), the knowledge of the exact metal concentration is critical for its experimental and clinical use. On the other hand, the involvement of thiols, such as cysteine (Cys), in the metabolism of this drug remains to be clarified. In the present work, the reduction reaction of SbV by Cys was kinetically characterized. The reaction orders with respect to Sb and Cys were equal to 1.0 and 3.3, respectively. The rate constant for the reduction reaction was pH-dependent. This reaction was exploited to effectively reduce SbV in MA, for the subsequent photometric determination of SbIII using the chromogen bromopyrogallol red. Reduction efficiencies of 100% were achieved at pH 3. Solutions with Sb concentration as low as 0.5 mmol L-1 were successfully assayed. The method was also applied to the determination of Sb in liposomal formulations of MA.

The use of organoantimonial complexes in the therapeutic of leishmaniasis and schistosomiasis has been limited mainly by the need for daily parenteral administration, their adverse side-effects and the appearance of drug resistance. Liposome encapsulation has been so far the most effective means to improve the efficacy of pentavalent antimonials against visceral leishmaniasis. Pharmacologically- and pharmaceutically-acceptable liposomal compositions are still being investigated through manipulation of preparation method, lipid composition and vesicle size. Recently, the encapsulation of a trivalent antimonial within "stealth" liposomes was found to reduce its acute toxicity and effectively deliver this compound to the parasite in experimental schistosomiasis.