A series of 29 previously reported N 4 -substituted 5-nitroisatin-3-thiosemicarbazones 2-30 has been screened for leishmanicidal potential. 7,8,[10][11][12][13][15][16][17][18][19]21,23,24,26,28 and 30 exhibited good to excellent antileishmanial activities with IC 50 values ranging from 0.44 AE 0.02 to 32.38 AE 0.66 mg/mL. Of these, 5, 7, 19 and 28 proved to be the most active antileishmanial agents, displaying activities with IC 50 values 1.78 AE 0.35, 0.44 AE 0.02, 1.91 AE 0.04 and 4.28 AE 0.75 mg/mL, respectively, which were even better than the standard drug, pentamidine (IC 50 ¼ 5.09 AE 0.04 mg/mL). This study presents the first example of exhibition of leishmanicidal potential by isatin-thiosemicarbazones and as such furnishes a solid basis for further research on these compounds to develop more potent antileishmanial agents.