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Ahmad I, Rabbi F, Nisar A, Ul-Haq Z, Khan A. In vitro-in silico pharmacology and chemistry of Stercularin, isolated from Sterculia diversifolia. Comput Biol Chem 2024; 109:108008. [PMID: 38198964 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiolchem.2023.108008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2023] [Revised: 12/19/2023] [Accepted: 12/20/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024]
Abstract
Stercularin is a coumarin, isolated from the ethyl acetate fraction of stem bark and leaves of S. diversifolia. Pharmacologically it is active against cancer, diabetes, and inflammation etc. The molecule is further screened for in vitro pharmacological activities. In addition, a detailed description on its drug likeness and pharmacokinetic profile has been established to further explore its fate as a drug candidate. Stercularin exhibited antiglycation, immunomodulatory, and leishmanicidal activity in three different in vitro models. The IC50 values obtained in these three assays were 80.22 ± 0.46 mg/ml, 12.8 ± 1.6 μg/ml, and 8.32 ± 0.42 μg/ml, respectively. In case of drug likeness evaluation, Stercularin has acceptable physicochemical properties and compliant with major drug likeness descriptors i.e., Lipinski rule, Pfizer rule, GSK rule, and "golden triangle". Accepting Lipinski rule implies the oral drug development of Stercularin. Pharmacokinetically, Stercularin is permeable to Caco-2 and MDCK cell lines. 'Boiled-egg' plot suggest intestinal route of absorption, blood brain barrier nonpermeating, and not affected by p-glycoprotein. Stercularin has high plasma protein binding with low free fraction circulating in the plasma. Stercularin proved to be the substrate and/or inhibitor of CYP 450 system with a moderate half-life and clearance rate to allow flexible dosing regimen. Finally, slight risk of toxicity exists for Stercularin, but not being limiting factors of drug knock out. A nature isolated Stercularin possess pharmacological activities and is predicted to have acceptable pharmacokinetic profile. Further drug development and in vivo studies are desirable for optimization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Imad Ahmad
- Department of Pharmacy, The Professional Institute of Health Sciences, Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan; Department of Pharmacy, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
| | - Fazle Rabbi
- Department of Pharmacy, Abasyn University Peshawar, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 25000, Pakistan.
| | - Amna Nisar
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 25120, Pakistan
| | - Zaheer Ul-Haq
- H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi 75270, Pakistan; Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi 75270, Pakistan
| | - Alamgir Khan
- H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi 75270, Pakistan
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Rossi NRDLP, Fialho SN, Gouveia ADJ, Ferreira AS, da Silva MA, Martinez LDN, Paula do Nascimento WDS, Gonzaga A, de Medeiros DSS, de Barros NB, de Cássia Alves R, Gonçalves GM, Teles CGB. Quinine and chloroquine: Potential preclinical candidates for the treatment of tegumentary Leishmaniasis. Acta Trop 2024; 252:107143. [PMID: 38331084 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2024.107143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2023] [Revised: 02/01/2024] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 02/10/2024]
Abstract
Leishmaniasis is an endemic disease in more than 90 countries, constituting a relevant public health problem. Limited treatment options, increase in resistance, and therapeutic failure are important aspects for the discovery of new treatment options. Drug repurposing may accelerate the discovery of antiLeishmanial drugs. Recent tests indicating the in vitro potential of antimalarials Leishmania resulted in the design of this study. This study aimed at evaluating the susceptibility of Leishmania (L.) amazonensis to chloroquine (CQ) and quinine (QN), alone or in combination with amphotericin B (AFT) and pentamidine (PTN). In the in vitro tests, first, we evaluated the growth inhibition of 50 % of promastigotes (IC50) and cytotoxicity for HepG2 and THP-1 cells (CC50). The IC50 values of AFT and PNT were below 1 µM, while the IC50 values of CQ and QN ranged between 4 and 13 µM. Concerning cytotoxicity, CC50 values ranged between 7 and 30 µM for AFT and PNT, and between 22 and 157 µM for the antimalarials. We also calculated the Selectivity Index (SI), where AFT and PTN obtained the highest values, while the antimalarias obtained values between 5 and 12. Both antimalarials were additive (ƩFIC 1.05-1.8) in combination with AFT and PTN. For anti-amastigote activity, the drugs obtained the following ICA50 values: AFT (0.26 µM), PNT (2.09 µM), CQ (3.77 µM) and QN (24.5 µM). In the in vivo tests, we observed that the effective dose for the death of 50 % of parasites (ED50) of AFT and CQ were 0.63 mg/kg and 27.29 mg/kg, respectively. When combining CQ with AFT, a decrease in parasitemia was observed, being statistically equal to the naive group. For cytokine quantification, it was observed that CQ, despite presenting anti-inflammatory activity was effective at increasing the production of IFN-γ. Overall, our data indicate that chloroquine will probably be a candidate for repurposing and use in drug combination therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Norton Rubens Diunior Lucas Pejara Rossi
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Experimental (PGBIOEXP), Fundação Universidade Federal de Rondônia (UNIR), Porto Velho, RO, Brazil; Plataforma de Bioensaios de Malária e Leishmaniose (PBML), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, FIOCRUZ, Unidade Rondônia, Porto Velho, RO, Brazil; Instituto Nacional de Epidemiologia da Amazônia Ocidental - EpiAmO, Brazil.
| | - Saara Neri Fialho
- Plataforma de Bioensaios de Malária e Leishmaniose (PBML), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, FIOCRUZ, Unidade Rondônia, Porto Velho, RO, Brazil; São Lucas Educacional-Afya, Porto Velho, RO, Brazil; Instituto Nacional de Epidemiologia da Amazônia Ocidental - EpiAmO, Brazil; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biodiversidade e Biotecnologia da Amazônia Legal - BIONORTE, Porto Velho, RO, Brazil
| | - Aurileya de Jesus Gouveia
- Plataforma de Bioensaios de Malária e Leishmaniose (PBML), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, FIOCRUZ, Unidade Rondônia, Porto Velho, RO, Brazil; Instituto Nacional de Epidemiologia da Amazônia Ocidental - EpiAmO, Brazil
| | - Amália Santos Ferreira
- Plataforma de Bioensaios de Malária e Leishmaniose (PBML), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, FIOCRUZ, Unidade Rondônia, Porto Velho, RO, Brazil; Instituto Nacional de Epidemiologia da Amazônia Ocidental - EpiAmO, Brazil
| | | | - Leandro Do Nascimento Martinez
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Experimental (PGBIOEXP), Fundação Universidade Federal de Rondônia (UNIR), Porto Velho, RO, Brazil; Plataforma de Bioensaios de Malária e Leishmaniose (PBML), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, FIOCRUZ, Unidade Rondônia, Porto Velho, RO, Brazil; São Lucas Educacional-Afya, Porto Velho, RO, Brazil; Instituto Nacional de Epidemiologia da Amazônia Ocidental - EpiAmO, Brazil
| | - Welington da Silva Paula do Nascimento
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Experimental (PGBIOEXP), Fundação Universidade Federal de Rondônia (UNIR), Porto Velho, RO, Brazil; Plataforma de Bioensaios de Malária e Leishmaniose (PBML), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, FIOCRUZ, Unidade Rondônia, Porto Velho, RO, Brazil; Instituto Nacional de Epidemiologia da Amazônia Ocidental - EpiAmO, Brazil
| | - Arlindo Gonzaga
- Plataforma de Bioensaios de Malária e Leishmaniose (PBML), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, FIOCRUZ, Unidade Rondônia, Porto Velho, RO, Brazil; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biodiversidade e Biotecnologia da Amazônia Legal - BIONORTE, Porto Velho, RO, Brazil
| | | | | | | | - Giselle Martins Gonçalves
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Experimental (PGBIOEXP), Fundação Universidade Federal de Rondônia (UNIR), Porto Velho, RO, Brazil
| | - Carolina Garcia Bioni Teles
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Experimental (PGBIOEXP), Fundação Universidade Federal de Rondônia (UNIR), Porto Velho, RO, Brazil; Plataforma de Bioensaios de Malária e Leishmaniose (PBML), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, FIOCRUZ, Unidade Rondônia, Porto Velho, RO, Brazil; São Lucas Educacional-Afya, Porto Velho, RO, Brazil; Instituto Nacional de Epidemiologia da Amazônia Ocidental - EpiAmO, Brazil; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biodiversidade e Biotecnologia da Amazônia Legal - BIONORTE, Porto Velho, RO, Brazil
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Agostino VS, Buerdsell ML, Uliana SRB, Denny PW, Coelho AC, Steel PG. Clemastine/tamoxifen hybrids as easily accessible antileishmanial drug leads. Org Biomol Chem 2024; 22:1812-1820. [PMID: 38328995 DOI: 10.1039/d3ob02091f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/09/2024]
Abstract
A library of hybrid molecules is developed based on the common chemical features shared by clemastine and tamoxifen both of which are well known for their antileishmanial activities. In the initial screening against Leishmania major and L. amazonensis promastigotes, as well as cytotoxicity assays using HepG2 cells, several hybrids showed submicromolar activity against the parasite and no toxicity against human cells. The compounds with an EC50 < 2 μM against promastigotes of both species and a selectivity index >10 were further characterized against intracellular amastigotes as well as promastigotes of species that cause both visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis, such as L. infantum and L. braziliensis, respectively. These sequential screenings revealed the high pan-activity of this class of molecules against these species, with several compounds displaying an EC50 ≤ 2 μM against both promastigotes and intracellular amastigotes. Two of them were identified as the potential templates for lead optimization of this series having shown the highest activities against all species in both stages of parasite. The present findings can serve as a good starting point in the search for novel antileishmanial compounds that are easy to access and highly active.
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Affiliation(s)
- V S Agostino
- Department of Chemistry, Durham University, UK.
- Department of Animal Biology, Institute of Biology, University of Campinas, Brazil
| | | | - S R B Uliana
- Department of Parasitology, Biomedical Sciences Institute, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - P W Denny
- Department of Biosciences, Durham University, UK
| | - A C Coelho
- Department of Animal Biology, Institute of Biology, University of Campinas, Brazil
| | - P G Steel
- Department of Chemistry, Durham University, UK.
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Corman HN, McNamara CW, Bakowski MA. Drug Discovery for Cutaneous Leishmaniasis: A Review of Developments in the Past 15 Years. Microorganisms 2023; 11:2845. [PMID: 38137989 PMCID: PMC10745741 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms11122845] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2023] [Revised: 11/21/2023] [Accepted: 11/22/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Leishmaniasis is a group of vector-borne, parasitic diseases caused by over 20 species of the protozoan Leishmania spp. The three major disease classifications, cutaneous, visceral, and mucocutaneous, have a range of clinical manifestations from self-healing skin lesions to hepatosplenomegaly and mucosal membrane damage to fatality. As a neglected tropical disease, leishmaniasis represents a major international health challenge, with nearly 350 million people living at risk of infection a year. The current chemotherapeutics used to treat leishmaniasis have harsh side effects, prolonged and costly treatment regimens, as well as emerging drug resistance, and are predominantly used for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis. There is an undeniable need for the identification and development of novel chemotherapeutics targeting cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), largely ignored by concerted drug development efforts. CL is mostly non-lethal and the most common presentation of this disease, with nearly 1 million new cases reported annually. Recognizing this unaddressed need, substantial yet fragmented progress in early drug discovery efforts for CL has occurred in the past 15 years and was outlined in this review. However, further work needs to be carried out to advance early discovery candidates towards the clinic. Importantly, there is a paucity of investment in the translation and development of therapies for CL, limiting the emergence of viable solutions to deal with this serious and complex international health problem.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah N. Corman
- Calibr at Scripps Research, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA; (C.W.M.); (M.A.B.)
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Sasidharan S, Saudagar P. An anti-leishmanial compound 4',7-dihydroxyflavone elicits ROS-mediated apoptosis-like death in Leishmania parasite. FEBS J 2023. [PMID: 36871140 DOI: 10.1111/febs.16770] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2022] [Revised: 01/12/2023] [Accepted: 03/02/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2023]
Abstract
The treatment for leishmaniasis is currently plagued by side effects such as toxicity and the emergence of drug resistance to the available repertoire of drugs, as well as the expense of these drugs. Considering such rising concerns, we report the anti-leishmanial activity and mechanism of a flavone compound 4',7-dihydroxyflavone (TI 4). Four flavanoids were initially screened for anti-leishmanial activity and cytotoxicity. The results showed that the compound TI 4 exhibited higher activity and selectivity index at the same time as maintaining low cytotoxicity. Preliminary microscopic studies and fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis reported that the parasite underwent apoptosis on TI 4 treatment. Further in-depth studies revealed high reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and thiol levels in the parasites, suggesting ROS-mediated apoptosis in the parasites upon TI 4 treatment. Other apoptotic indicators such as intracellular Ca2+ and mitochondrial membrane potential also indicated the onset of apoptosis in the treated parasites. The mRNA expression levels signified that the redox metabolism genes were upregulated by two-fold along with the apoptotic genes. In summary, the use of TI 4 on Leishmania parasites induces ROS-mediated apoptosis; therefore, the compound has immense potential to be an anti-leishmanial drug. However, in vivo studies would be required to ascertain its safety and efficacy before we can exploit the compound against the growing leishmaniasis crisis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Santanu Sasidharan
- Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Technology, Warangal, India
| | - Prakash Saudagar
- Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Technology, Warangal, India
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Borges BS, Bueno GDP, Tomiotto-Pellissier F, Figueiredo FB, Soares Medeiros LC. In vitro anti- Leishmania activity of triclabendazole and its synergic effect with amphotericin B. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2023; 12:1044665. [PMID: 36699729 PMCID: PMC9868945 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.1044665] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2022] [Accepted: 12/16/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease, with approximately 1 million new cases and 30,000 deaths reported every year worldwide. Given the lack of adequate medication for treating leishmaniasis, drug repositioning is essential to save time and money when searching for new therapeutic approaches. This is particularly important given leishmaniasis's status as a neglected disease. Available treatments are still far from being fully effective for treating the different clinical forms of the disease. They are also administered parenterally, making it challenging to ensure complete treatment, and they are extremely toxic, in some cases, causing death. Triclabendazole (TCBZ) is a benzimidazole used to treat fasciolosis in adults and children. It presents a lower toxicity profile than amphotericin B (AmpB) and is administered orally, making it an attractive candidate for treating other parasitoses. The mechanism of action for TCBZ is not yet well understood, although microtubules or polyamines could potentially act as a pharmacological target. TCBZ has already shown antiproliferative activity against T. cruzi, T. brucei, and L. infantum. However, further investigations are still necessary to elucidate the mechanisms of action of TCBZ. Methods Cytotoxicity assay was performed by MTT assay. Cell inhibition (CI) values were obtained according to the equation CI = (O.D treatment x 100/O.D. negative control). For Infection evaluation, fixated cells were stained with Hoechst and read at Operetta High Content Imaging System (Perkin Elmer). For growth curves, cell culture absorbance was measured daily at 600 nm. For the synergism effect, Fractional Inhibitory Concentrations (FICs) were calculated for the IC50 of the drugs alone or combined. Mitochondrial membrane potential (DYm), cell cycle, and cell death analysis were evaluated by flow cytometry. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and lipid quantification were also determined by fluorimetry. Treated parasites morphology and ultrastructure were analyzed by electron microscopy. Results The selectivity index (SI = CC50/IC50) of TCBZ was comparable with AmpB in promastigotes and amastigotes of Leishmania amazonensis. Evaluation of the cell cycle showed an increase of up to 13% of cells concentrated in S and G2, and morphological analysis with scanning electron microscopy showed a high frequency of dividing cells. The ultrastructural analysis demonstrated large cytoplasmic lipid accumulation, which could suggest alterations in lipid metabolism. Combined administration of TCBZ and AmpB demonstrated a synergistic effect in vitro against intracellular amastigote forms with cSFICs of 0.25. Conclusions Considering that TCBZ has the advantage of being inexpensive and administrated orally, our results suggest that TCBZ, combined with AmpB, is a promising candidate for treating leishmaniasis with reduced toxicity.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Fernanda Tomiotto-Pellissier
- Laboratory of Immunopathology of Neglected Diseases and Cancer (LIDNC), Department of Pathological Sciences, State University of Londrina, Londrina, Paraná, Brazil,Department of Medical Pathology, Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
| | | | - Lia Carolina Soares Medeiros
- Instituto Carlos Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil,*Correspondence: Lia Carolina Soares Medeiros,
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Kumar P, Kumar P, Singh N, Khajuria S, Patel R, Rajana VK, Mandal D, Velayutham R. Limitations of current chemotherapy and future of nanoformulation-based AmB delivery for visceral leishmaniasis-An updated review. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2022; 10:1016925. [PMID: 36588956 PMCID: PMC9794769 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2022.1016925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2022] [Accepted: 10/31/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is the most lethal of all leishmaniasis diseasesand the second most common parasiticdisease after malaria and,still, categorized as a neglected tropical disease (NTD). According to the latest WHO study, >20 Leishmania species spread 0.7-1.0 million new cases of leishmaniasis each year. VL is caused by the genus, Leishmania donovani (LD), which affects between 50,000 and 90,000 people worldwide each year. Lack of new drug development, increasing drug resistance, toxicity and high cost even with the first line of treatmentof Amphotericin B (AmB), demands new formulation for treatment of VLFurther the lack of a vaccine, allowedthe researchers to develop nanofomulation-based AmB for improved delivery. The limitation of AmB is its kidney and liver toxicity which forced the development of costly liposomal AmB (AmBisome) nanoformulation. Success of AmBisome have inspired and attracted a wide range of AmB nanoformulations ranging from polymeric, solid lipid, liposomal/micellar, metallic, macrophage receptor-targetednanoparticles (NP) and even with sophisticated carbon/quantum dot-based AmBnano delivery systems. Notably, NP-based AmB delivery has shown increased efficacy due to increased uptake, on-target delivery and synergistic impact of NP and AmB. In this review, we have discussed the different forms of leishmaniasis disease and their current treatment options with limitations. The discovery, mechanism of action of AmB, clinical status of AmB and improvement with AmBisome over fungizone (AmB-deoxycholate)for VL treatment was further discussed. At last, the development of various AmB nanoformulation was discussed along with its adavantages over traditional chemotherapy-based delivery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prakash Kumar
- Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Hajipur, India
| | - Pawan Kumar
- Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Hajipur, India
| | - Nidhi Singh
- National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Ahmedabad, India
| | - Salil Khajuria
- Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Hajipur, India
| | - Rahul Patel
- Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Hajipur, India
| | - Vinod Kumar Rajana
- Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Hajipur, India
| | - Debabrata Mandal
- Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Hajipur, India,*Correspondence: Ravichandiran Velayutham, ; Debabrata Mandal,
| | - Ravichandiran Velayutham
- Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Hajipur, India,National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Kolkata, India,*Correspondence: Ravichandiran Velayutham, ; Debabrata Mandal,
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Bazedoxifene, a Postmenopausal Drug, Acts as an Antimalarial and Inhibits Hemozoin Formation. Microbiol Spectr 2022; 10:e0278121. [PMID: 35616371 PMCID: PMC9241896 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.02781-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite a remarkable improvement in health care and continued drug discovery efforts, malaria control efforts are continuously challenged by the emergence of drug-resistant parasite strains. Given a long and risky development path of new drugs, repurposing existing drugs for the treatment of malaria is an attractive and shorter path. Tamoxifen, a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) for the treatment and prevention of estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer, possesses antibacterial, antifungal, and antiparasitic activities. Hence, we assessed tamoxifen, raloxifene, and bazedoxifene, which represent the first-, second-, and third-generation SERMs, respectively, for antimalarial activity. Raloxifene and bazedoxifene inhibited the erythrocytic development of Plasmodium falciparum with submicromolar 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) values. Among the three, bazedoxifene was the most potent and also decreased P. berghei infection in female mice but not in male mice. However, bazedoxifene similarly inhibited P. falciparum growth in erythrocytes of male and female origin, which highlights the importance of sex-specific host physiology in drug efficacy. Bazedoxifene was most potent on early ring-stage parasites, and about 35% of the treated parasites did not contain hemozoin in the food vacuole. Bazedoxifene-treated parasites had almost 34% less hemozoin content than the control parasites. However, both control and bazedoxifene-treated parasites had similar hemoglobin levels, suggesting that bazedoxifene inhibits hemozoin formation and that toxicity due to accumulation of free heme could be a mechanism of its antimalarial activity. Because bazedoxifene is in clinical use and bazedoxifene-chloroquine combination shows an additive antiparasitic effect, bazedoxifene could be an adjunctive partner of currently used antimalarial regimens. IMPORTANCE The emergence and spread of drug-resistant strains of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum has necessitated new drugs. Selective estrogen receptor modulators are in clinical use for the prevention and treatment of breast cancer and postmenopausal osteoporosis. We demonstrate that bazedoxifene, a third-generation selective estrogen receptor modulator, has potent inhibitory activity against both susceptible and drug-resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum. It also blocked the development of Plasmodium berghei in mice. The inhibitory effect was strongest on the ring stage and resulted in the inhibition of hemozoin formation, which could be the major mechanism of bazedoxifene action. Hemozoin is a nontoxic polymer of heme, which is a by-product of hemoglobin degradation by the malaria parasite during its development within the erythrocyte. Because bazedoxifene is already in clinical use for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis, our findings support repurposing of bazedoxifene as an antimalarial.
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Zewdie KA, Hailu HG, Ayza MA, Tesfaye BA. Antileishmanial Activity of Tamoxifen by Targeting Sphingolipid Metabolism: A Review. Clin Pharmacol 2022; 14:11-17. [PMID: 35221731 PMCID: PMC8880078 DOI: 10.2147/cpaa.s344268] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2021] [Accepted: 01/27/2022] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Kaleab Alemayehu Zewdie
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Pharmacy, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Ethiopia
- Correspondence: Kaleab Alemayehu Zewdie, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Pharmacy, Mekelle University, PO Box 1871, Mekelle, Ethiopia, Tel +251 921546562, Email
| | - Haftom Gebregergs Hailu
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Pharmacy, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Ethiopia
| | - Muluken Altaye Ayza
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Pharmacy, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Ethiopia
| | - Bekalu Amare Tesfaye
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Pharmacy, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Ethiopia
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Keyhani A, Sharifi I, Salarkia E, Khosravi A, Tavakoli Oliaee R, Babaei Z, Ghasemi Nejad Almani P, Hassanzadeh S, Kheirandish R, Mostafavi M, Hakimi Parizi M, Alahdin S, Sharifi F, Dabiri S, Shamsi Meymandi S, Khamesipour A, Jafarzadeh A, Bamorovat M. In vitro and in vivo therapeutic potentials of 6-gingerol in combination with amphotericin B for treatment of Leishmania major infection: Powerful synergistic and multifunctional effects. Int Immunopharmacol 2021; 101:108274. [PMID: 34688150 DOI: 10.1016/j.intimp.2021.108274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2021] [Revised: 10/11/2021] [Accepted: 10/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The ongoing conventional drugs for leishmaniasis treatment are insufficient. The present study aimed to assess 6-gingerol alone and in combination with amphotericin B on Leishmania major stages using experimental and in vivo murine models. Here, arrays of experimental approaches were designed to monitor and evaluate the 6-gingerol potential therapeutic outcomes. The binding affinity of 6-gingerol and IFN-γ was the basis for docking conformations. 6-Gingerol combined with amphotericin B represented a safe mixture, extremely leishmanicidal, a potent antioxidant, induced a remarkable apoptotic index, significantly increased the expression of the Th1-related cytokines (IL-12p40, IFN-γ, and TNF- α), iNOS, and transcription factors (STAT1, c-Fos, and Elk-1). In contrast, the expression of the Th2-related cytokines was significantly downregulated (p < 0.001). This combination was also potent when the lesion appearance was evaluated following three weeks of treatment. The histopathological and immunohistochemical patterns of the murine model represented clusters of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes which compressed and deteriorated the macrophages harboring Leishman bodies. The primary mode of action of 6-gingerol and amphotericin B involved broad mechanistic insights providing a coherent basis for further clinical study as a potential drug candidate for CL. In conclusion, 6-gingerol with amphotericin B synergistically exerted anti-leishmanial activity in vitro and in vivo and potentiated macrophages' leishmanicidal activity, modulated Th1- and Th2-related phenotypes improved the histopathological changes in the BALB/c mice infected with L. major. They elevated the leukocyte infiltration into the lesions. Therefore, this combination should be considered for treating volunteer patients with CL in clinical studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alireza Keyhani
- Leishmaniasis Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
| | - Iraj Sharifi
- Leishmaniasis Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
| | - Ehsan Salarkia
- Leishmaniasis Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
| | - Ahmad Khosravi
- Leishmaniasis Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
| | | | - Zahra Babaei
- Leishmaniasis Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
| | | | - Saeid Hassanzadeh
- Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran
| | - Reza Kheirandish
- Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran
| | - Mashid Mostafavi
- Leishmaniasis Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
| | - Maryam Hakimi Parizi
- Leishmaniasis Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
| | - Sodabeh Alahdin
- Leishmaniasis Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
| | - Fatemeh Sharifi
- Research Center for Tropical and Infectious Diseases, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
| | - Shahriar Dabiri
- Department of Pathology and Stem Cell Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
| | - Simin Shamsi Meymandi
- Department of Dermatology, Pathology and Stem Cell Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
| | - Ali Khamesipour
- Center for Research and Training in Skin Diseases and Leprosy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Abdollah Jafarzadeh
- Department of Immunology, Medical School, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
| | - Mehdi Bamorovat
- Leishmaniasis Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
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11
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Kar A, Charan Raja MR, Jayaraman A, Srinivasan S, Debnath J, Kar Mahapatra S. Oral combination of eugenol oleate and miltefosine induce immune response during experimental visceral leishmaniasis through nitric oxide generation with advanced cytokine demand. Cytokine 2021; 146:155623. [PMID: 34144446 DOI: 10.1016/j.cyto.2021.155623] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2021] [Revised: 06/01/2021] [Accepted: 06/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Conventional therapy of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) remains challenging with the pitfall of toxicity, drug resistance, and expensive. Hence, urgent need for an alternative approach is essential. In this study, we evaluated the potential of combination therapy with eugenol oleate and miltefosine in Leishmania donovani infected macrophages and in the BALB/c mouse model. The interactions between eugenol oleate and miltefosine were found to be additive against promastigotes and amastigotes with xΣFIC 1.13 and 0.68, respectively. Significantly (p < 0.001) decreased arginase activity, increased nitrite generation, improved pro-inflammatory cytokines, and phosphorylated p38MAPK were observed after combination therapy with eugenol oleate and miltefosine. >80% parasite clearance in splenic and hepatic tissue with concomitant nitrite generation, and anti-VL cytokines productions were observed after orally administered miltefosine (5 mg/kg body weight) and eugenol oleate (15 mg/kg body weight) in L. donovani-infected BALB/c mice. Altogether, this study suggested the possibility of an oral combination of miltefosine with eugenol oleate against visceral leishmaniasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amrita Kar
- Department of Biotechnology, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA Deemed to be University, Thanjavur, India
| | - Mamilla R Charan Raja
- Department of Biotechnology, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA Deemed to be University, Thanjavur, India; Department of Biotechnology, Saveetha School of Engineering, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai 600077, India
| | - Adithyan Jayaraman
- Department of Biotechnology, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA Deemed to be University, Thanjavur, India
| | - Sujatha Srinivasan
- Department of Biotechnology, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA Deemed to be University, Thanjavur, India
| | - Joy Debnath
- Department of Chemistry, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA Deemed to be University, Thanjavur, India
| | - Santanu Kar Mahapatra
- Department of Biotechnology, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA Deemed to be University, Thanjavur, India; Department of Paramedical and Allied Health Sciences, Midnapore City College, Midnapore 721129, West Bengal, India.
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12
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Garg A, Singh A, Kumar A. Selective estrogen receptor modulators against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria: an experimental study. Future Microbiol 2021; 16:987-1001. [PMID: 34406075 DOI: 10.2217/fmb-2020-0310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Aim: This study was conducted to explore the antibacterial potential of selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs). Materials & methods: The percentage growth retardation, bacterial growth kinetics, biofilm, checkerboard and bacterial burden assays were conducted to check antibacterial potential of SERMs. Finally, docking study was also conducted to predict possible antibacterial mechanism of SERMs. Results: In vitro and in vivo studies have shown the antibacterial activity of SERMs against different tested strains of bacteria. The synergistic activity of SERMs in combination with standard antibacterial agents was also observed and tested further under in vivo conditions. In vivo results have shown decreased bacterial bioburden. Docking studies have predicted the multimodal antibacterial mechanism of SERMs. Conclusion: SERMs can be considered as promising broad-spectrum antibacterial agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aakriti Garg
- Department of Pharmacology, ISF College of Pharmacy, Moga, Punjab, 142001, India
| | - Arti Singh
- Department of Pharmacology, ISF College of Pharmacy, Moga, Punjab, 142001, India
| | - Anoop Kumar
- Department of Pharmacology, ISF College of Pharmacy, Moga, Punjab, 142001, India.,Department of Pharmacology & Clinical Research, Delhi Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences & Research (DIPSAR), Delhi Pharmaceutical Sciences & Research University (DPSRU), New Delhi, 110017, India
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13
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Davies-Bolorunduro O, Osuolale O, Saibu S, Adeleye I, Aminah N. Bioprospecting marine actinomycetes for antileishmanial drugs: current perspectives and future prospects. Heliyon 2021; 7:e07710. [PMID: 34409179 PMCID: PMC8361068 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07710] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2021] [Revised: 07/25/2021] [Accepted: 07/30/2021] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Revived analysis interests in natural products in the hope of discovering new and novel antileishmanial drug leads have been driven partially by the increasing incidence of drug resistance. However, the search for novel chemotherapeutics to combat drug resistance had previously concentrated on the terrestrial environment. As a result, the marine environment was often overlooked. For example, actinomycetes are an immensely important group of bacteria for antibiotic production, producing two-thirds of the known antibiotics. However, these bacteria have been isolated primarily from terrestrial sources. Consequently, there have been revived efforts to discover new compounds from uncharted or uncommon environments like the marine ecosystem. Isolation, purification and structure elucidation of target compounds from complex metabolic extract are major challenges in natural products chemistry. As a result, marine-derived natural products from actinomycetes that have antileishmanial bioactivity potentials have been understudied. This review highlights metagenomic and bioassay approaches which could help streamline the drug discovery process thereby greatly reducing time and cost of dereplication to identify suitable antileishmanial drug candidates.
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Affiliation(s)
- O.F. Davies-Bolorunduro
- Microbiology Department, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Lagos, Nigeria
- Postdoc Fellow Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universitas Airlangga, Komplek Kampus C, Jl. Mulyorejo, Surabaya, 60115, Indonesia
| | - O. Osuolale
- Applied Environmental Metagenomics and Infectious Diseases Research Group (AEMIDR), Department of Biological Sciences, Elizade University, Ilara Mokin, Nigeria
| | - S. Saibu
- Department of Microbiology, University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos, Nigeria
| | - I.A. Adeleye
- Department of Microbiology, University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos, Nigeria
| | - N.S. Aminah
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universitas Airlangga, Komplek Kampus C UNAIR, Jl. Mulyorejo, Surabaya, 60115, Indonesia
- Biotechnology of Tropical Medicinal Plants Research Group, Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia
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14
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Effect of Itraconazole-Ezetimibe-Miltefosine Ternary Therapy in Murine Visceral Leishmaniasis. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2021; 65:AAC.02676-20. [PMID: 33619058 PMCID: PMC8092893 DOI: 10.1128/aac.02676-20] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Drug combination therapy is an interesting approach to increase the success of drug repurposing for neglected diseases. Thus, the objective of this work was to evaluate binary and ternary therapies composed of itraconazole, ezetimibe and miltefosine for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis. Intracellular Leishmania infantum amastigotes were incubated with the drugs alone or in combination for 72 h. For in vivo experiments, we tested a long-course (21 days, once per day) and a short-course treatment (5 days, twice per day) for the binary combination with itraconazole and ezetimibe. For the ternary therapy including miltefosine, we adopted the short-course treatment and varied the vehicle. None of the combinations were toxic to macrophages. Binary combination of itraconazole plus ezetimibe and ternary combination of itraconazole, ezetimibe and miltefosine had synergistic effects in intracellular amastigotes, in some of the proportions evaluated. Although the in vivo long-course therapy had been more effective than the short-course protocol, it showed hepatic toxicity signs. Ezetimibe has proven to be able to reduce the parasite burden alone or in combination. Both suspensions of the ternary combination were active, but when the drugs were suspended in the commercial ORA-Plus formulation instead of purified water, the parasite burden was reduced by 98% in the liver and spleen. Altogether, the results demonstrate for the first time the activity of ezetimibe in a viscerotropic species of Leishmania and indicate that ternary treatment composed of miltefosine, itraconazole, and ezetimibe at low doses is a promising therapeutic alternative for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis.
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15
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Freitas CS, Lage DP, Oliveira-da-Silva JA, Costa RR, Mendonça DVC, Martins VT, Reis TAR, Antinarelli LMR, Machado AS, Tavares GSV, Ramos FF, Brito RCF, Ludolf F, Chávez-Fumagalli MA, Roatt BM, Ramos GS, Munkert J, Ottoni FM, Campana PRV, Duarte MC, Gonçalves DU, Coimbra ES, Braga FC, Pádua RM, Coelho EAF. In vitro and in vivo antileishmanial activity of β-acetyl-digitoxin, a cardenolide of Digitalis lanata potentially useful to treat visceral leishmaniasis. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2021; 28:38. [PMID: 33851916 PMCID: PMC8045677 DOI: 10.1051/parasite/2021036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2020] [Accepted: 04/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Current treatments of visceral leishmaniasis face limitations due to drug side effects and/or high cost, along with the emergence of parasite resistance. Novel and low-cost antileishmanial agents are therefore required. We report herein the antileishmanial activity of β-acetyl-digitoxin (b-AD), a cardenolide isolated from Digitalis lanata leaves, assayed in vitro and in vivo against Leishmania infantum. Results showed direct action of b-AD against parasites, as well as efficacy for the treatment of Leishmania-infected macrophages. In vivo experiments using b-AD-containing Pluronic® F127 polymeric micelles (b-AD/Mic) to treat L. infantum-infected mice showed that this composition reduced the parasite load in distinct organs in more significant levels. It also induced the development of anti-parasite Th1-type immunity, attested by high levels of IFN-γ, IL-12, TNF-α, GM-CSF, nitrite and specific IgG2a antibodies, in addition to low IL-4 and IL-10 contents, along with higher IFN-γ-producing CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell frequency. Furthermore, low toxicity was found in the organs of the treated animals. Comparing the therapeutic effect between the treatments, b-AD/Mic was the most effective in protecting animals against infection, when compared to the other groups including miltefosine used as a drug control. Data found 15 days after treatment were similar to those obtained one day post-therapy. In conclusion, the results obtained suggest that b-AD/Mic is a promising antileishmanial agent and deserves further studies to investigate its potential to treat visceral leishmaniasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camila S Freitas
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Infectologia e Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 30130-100 Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Daniela P Lage
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Infectologia e Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 30130-100 Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - João A Oliveira-da-Silva
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Infectologia e Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 30130-100 Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Rafaella R Costa
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Infectologia e Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 30130-100 Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Débora V C Mendonça
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Infectologia e Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 30130-100 Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Vívian T Martins
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Infectologia e Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 30130-100 Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Thiago A R Reis
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Infectologia e Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 30130-100 Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Luciana M R Antinarelli
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Microbiologia e Imunologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, 36036-900 Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Amanda S Machado
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Infectologia e Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 30130-100 Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Grasiele S V Tavares
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Infectologia e Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 30130-100 Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Fernanda F Ramos
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Infectologia e Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 30130-100 Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Rory C F Brito
- Laboratório de Imunopatologia, Núcleo de Pesquisas em Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Insituto de Ciências Exatas e Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, 35400-000 Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Fernanda Ludolf
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Infectologia e Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 30130-100 Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | | | - Bruno M Roatt
- Laboratório de Imunopatologia, Núcleo de Pesquisas em Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Insituto de Ciências Exatas e Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, 35400-000 Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Gabriela S Ramos
- Departamento de Produtos Farmacêuticos, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 31270-901 Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Jennifer Munkert
- Departament Biologie, LS Pharmazeutische Biologie, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Flaviano M Ottoni
- Departamento de Produtos Farmacêuticos, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 31270-901 Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Priscilla R V Campana
- Departamento de Produtos Farmacêuticos, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 31270-901 Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Mariana C Duarte
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Infectologia e Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 30130-100 Minas Gerais, Brazil - Departamento de Patologia Clínica, COLTEC, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 31270-901 Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Denise U Gonçalves
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Infectologia e Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 30130-100 Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Elaine S Coimbra
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Microbiologia e Imunologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, 36036-900 Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Fernão C Braga
- Departamento de Produtos Farmacêuticos, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 31270-901 Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Rodrigo M Pádua
- Departamento de Produtos Farmacêuticos, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 31270-901 Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Eduardo A F Coelho
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Infectologia e Medicina Tropical, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 30130-100 Minas Gerais, Brazil - Departamento de Patologia Clínica, COLTEC, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 31270-901 Minas Gerais, Brazil
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16
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Kar A, Jayaraman A, Charan Raja MR, Srinivasan S, Debnath J, Mahapatra SK. Synergic effect of eugenol oleate with amphotericin B augments anti-leishmanial immune response in experimental visceral leishmaniasis in vitro and in vivo. Int Immunopharmacol 2021; 91:107291. [PMID: 33360084 DOI: 10.1016/j.intimp.2020.107291] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2020] [Revised: 12/05/2020] [Accepted: 12/08/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Present treatment regimen on visceral leishmaniasis has multiple limitations including severe side effects, toxicity, and resistance of Leishmania strains. Amphotericin B is a well-established pharmacologically approved drug; however, mainly toxicity is a foremost issue with that drug. Recently, our group identified eugenol oleate as an anti-leishmanial immunomodulatory compound. The important objectives of this present study was to evaluate the possible synergistic effect of eugenol oleate with amphotericin B to reduce the toxicity of this approved drug. Results obtained from this study signified that combination of eugenol oleate and amphotericin B showed indifferent combinatorial effect against promastigotes with xΣFIC 1.015, while, moderate synergistic activity with xΣFIC 0.456 against amastigotes. It was also notable that eugenol oleate (2.5 μM) with low concentrations of amphotericin B (0.3125 μM) showed 96.45% parasite reduction within L. donovani-infected murine macrophages. Furthermore, eugenol oleate and amphotericin B significantly (p < 0.01) enhanced the nitrite generation, and pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-12, IFN-γ and TNF-α) in infected macrophages in vitro and in BALB/c mice in vivo. Eugenol oleate (10 mg/Kg b. wt.) with amphotericin B (1 mg/Kg b.wt.) significantly (p < 0.01) controlled the parasite burden in liver by 96.2% and in spleen by 93.12%. Hence, this study strongly suggested the synergic potential of eugenol oleate with low concentration of amphotericin B in experimental visceral leishmaniasis through anti-leishmanial immune response.
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MESH Headings
- Amphotericin B/pharmacology
- Animals
- Cells, Cultured
- Cytokines/metabolism
- Disease Models, Animal
- Drug Synergism
- Drug Therapy, Combination
- Female
- Host-Parasite Interactions
- Inflammation Mediators/metabolism
- Leishmania donovani/drug effects
- Leishmania donovani/immunology
- Leishmania donovani/pathogenicity
- Leishmaniasis, Visceral/drug therapy
- Leishmaniasis, Visceral/immunology
- Leishmaniasis, Visceral/metabolism
- Leishmaniasis, Visceral/parasitology
- Liver/drug effects
- Liver/immunology
- Liver/metabolism
- Liver/parasitology
- Macrophages, Peritoneal/drug effects
- Macrophages, Peritoneal/immunology
- Macrophages, Peritoneal/metabolism
- Macrophages, Peritoneal/parasitology
- Mice, Inbred BALB C
- Nitrites/metabolism
- Parasite Load
- Spleen/drug effects
- Spleen/immunology
- Spleen/metabolism
- Spleen/parasitology
- Th1 Cells/drug effects
- Th1 Cells/immunology
- Th1 Cells/metabolism
- Th1 Cells/parasitology
- Th1-Th2 Balance
- Th2 Cells/drug effects
- Th2 Cells/immunology
- Th2 Cells/metabolism
- Th2 Cells/parasitology
- Trypanocidal Agents/pharmacology
- Mice
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Affiliation(s)
- Amrita Kar
- Department of Biotechnology, Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA University, Thanjavur, India; Department of Chemistry, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA University, Thanjavur, India
| | - Adithyan Jayaraman
- Department of Biotechnology, Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA University, Thanjavur, India; Department of Chemistry, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA University, Thanjavur, India
| | - Mamilla R Charan Raja
- Department of Biotechnology, Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA University, Thanjavur, India; Department of Chemistry, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA University, Thanjavur, India
| | - Sujatha Srinivasan
- Department of Biotechnology, Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA University, Thanjavur, India; Department of Chemistry, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA University, Thanjavur, India
| | - Joy Debnath
- Department of Biotechnology, Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA University, Thanjavur, India; Department of Chemistry, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA University, Thanjavur, India.
| | - Santanu Kar Mahapatra
- Department of Biotechnology, Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA University, Thanjavur, India; Department of Chemistry, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, SASTRA University, Thanjavur, India.
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17
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Das A, Jawed JJ, Das MC, Parveen S, Ghosh C, Majumdar S, Saha B, Bhattacharjee S. Lupeol and amphotericin B mediate synergistic anti-leishmanial immunomodulatory effects in Leishmania donovani-infected BALB/c mice. Cytokine 2021; 137:155319. [PMID: 33002744 DOI: 10.1016/j.cyto.2020.155319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2020] [Accepted: 09/22/2020] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Leishmania donovani, a protozoan parasite, inflicts the disease Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) Worldwide. The only orally bioavailable drug miltefosine is toxic, whereas liposomal amphotericin B (AmpB) is expensive. Lupeol, a triterpenoid from Sterculia villosa bark, was exhibited immunomodulatory and anti-leishmanial activity in experimental VL. Herein, we evaluated synergism between sub-optimum dose of AmpB and lupeol in anti-leishmanial and immunomodulatory effects in L. donovani-infected BALB/c mice. We observed that a combination of sub-optimum dose of lupeol and AmpB significantly reduced the hepatic and splenic parasitic burden accompanied by enhanced nitric oxide production, robust induction of Th1 cytokines (IL-12 and IFN-γ) but suppressed Th2 cytokine (IL-10 and TGF- β) production. The treatment with the lupeol-AmpB combination enhanced p38mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38MAPK), but reduced extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK-1/2), phosphorylation and up-regulated pro-inflammatory response. The present work thus indicates a lupeol-AmpB-mediated immunotherapeutic approach for eliminating the parasite-induced immunosuppression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antu Das
- Department of Molecular Biology & Bioinformatics, Tripura University, Agartala, India
| | | | - Manash C Das
- Department of Molecular Biology & Bioinformatics, Tripura University, Agartala, India
| | - Shabina Parveen
- Division of Molecular Medicine, Bose Institute, Kolkata, India
| | - Chinmoy Ghosh
- Department of Molecular Biology & Bioinformatics, Tripura University, Agartala, India; Molecular stress and Stem Cell Biology Lab, School of Biotechnology, KIIT University, India
| | | | - Bhaskar Saha
- National Centre for Cell Science, Ganeshkhind, Pune-411007. India
| | - Surajit Bhattacharjee
- Department of Molecular Biology & Bioinformatics, Tripura University, Agartala, India.
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18
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Ham RE, Temesvari LA. Joining forces: Leveraging novel combination therapies to combat infections with eukaryotic pathogens. PLoS Pathog 2021; 16:e1009081. [PMID: 33382854 PMCID: PMC7774843 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Rachel E. Ham
- Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, Unites States of America
- Eukaryotic Pathogens Innovation Center (EPIC), Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, Unites States of America
| | - Lesly A. Temesvari
- Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, Unites States of America
- Eukaryotic Pathogens Innovation Center (EPIC), Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, Unites States of America
- * E-mail:
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19
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Parvez S, Yadagiri G, Karole A, Singh OP, Verma A, Sundar S, Mudavath SL. Recuperating Biopharmaceutical Aspects of Amphotericin B and Paromomycin Using a Chitosan Functionalized Nanocarrier via Oral Route for Enhanced Anti-leishmanial Activity. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2020; 10:570573. [PMID: 33178626 PMCID: PMC7593694 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2020.570573] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2020] [Accepted: 09/09/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The design and development of new pharmaceutical formulations for the existing anti-leishmanial is a new strategic alternate to improve efficacy and safety rather than new drug discovery. Herein hybrid solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) have been engineered to direct the oral delivery of two anti-leishmanial drugs amphotericin B (AmB) and paromomycin (PM). The combinatorial nanocarriers consist of conventional SLN, antileishmanial drugs (AmB and PM) which have been functionalized with chitosan (Cs) grafted onto the external surface. The Cs-SLN have the mean particle size of 373.9 ± 1.41 nm, polydispersity index (PDI) of 0.342 ± 0.02 and the entrapment efficiency for AmB and PM was found to be 95.20 ± 3.19% and 89.45 ± 6.86 %, respectively. Characterization of SLN was performed by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Complete internalization of the formulation was observed in Caco-2 cells. Cs-SLN has shown a controlled and slow drug release profile over a period of 72 h and was stable at gastrointestinal fluids, confirmed by simulated gastro-intestinal fluids study. Cs coating enhanced the mucoadhesive property of Cs-SLN. The in-vitro anti-leishmanial activity of Cs-SLN (1 μg/ml) has shown a maximum percentage of inhibition (92.35%) on intra-cellular amastigote growth of L. donovani.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shabi Parvez
- Infectious Disease Biology Laboratory, Institute of Nano Science & Technology, Mohali, India
| | - Ganesh Yadagiri
- Infectious Disease Biology Laboratory, Institute of Nano Science & Technology, Mohali, India
| | - Archana Karole
- Infectious Disease Biology Laboratory, Institute of Nano Science & Technology, Mohali, India
| | - Om Prakash Singh
- Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India
| | - Anurag Verma
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Institute of Foreign Trade and Management (IFTM) University, Moradabad, India.,Teerthanker Mahaveer College of Pharmacy, Teerthanker Mahaveer University (TMU), Moradabad, India
| | - Shyam Sundar
- Infectious Disease Research Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India
| | - Shyam Lal Mudavath
- Infectious Disease Biology Laboratory, Institute of Nano Science & Technology, Mohali, India
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Raj S, Sasidharan S, Balaji SN, Dubey VK, Saudagar P. Review on natural products as an alternative to contemporary anti-leishmanial therapeutics. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s42485-020-00035-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
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21
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Tunes LG, Morato RE, Garcia A, Schmitz V, Steindel M, Corrêa-Junior JD, Dos Santos HF, Frézard F, de Almeida MV, Silva H, Moretti NS, de Barros ALB, do Monte-Neto RL. Preclinical Gold Complexes as Oral Drug Candidates to Treat Leishmaniasis Are Potent Trypanothione Reductase Inhibitors. ACS Infect Dis 2020; 6:1121-1139. [PMID: 32283915 DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.9b00505] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
The drugs currently used to treat leishmaniases have limitations concerning cost, efficacy, and safety, making the search for new therapeutic approaches urgent. We found that the gold(I)-derived complexes were active against L. infantum and L. braziliensis intracellular amastigotes with IC50 values ranging from 0.5 to 5.5 μM. All gold(I) complexes were potent inhibitors of trypanothione reductase (TR), with enzyme IC50 values ranging from 1 to 7.8 μM. Triethylphosphine-derived complexes enhanced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and decreased mitochondrial respiration after 2 h of exposure, indicating that gold(I) complexes cause oxidative stress by direct ROS production, by causing mitochondrial damage or by impairing TR activity and thus accumulating ROS. There was no cross-resistance to antimony; in fact, SbR (antimony-resistant mutants) strains were hypersensitive to some of the complexes. BALB/c mice infected with luciferase-expressing L. braziliensis or L. amazonensis and treated orally with 12.5 mg/kg/day of AdT Et (3) or AdO Et (4) presented reduced lesion size and parasite burden, as revealed by bioimaging. The combination of (3) and miltefosine allowed for a 50% reduction in miltefosine treatment time. Complexes 3 and 4 presented favorable pharmacokinetic and toxicity profiles that encourage further drug development studies. Gold(I) complexes are promising antileishmanial agents, with a potential for therapeutic use, including in leishmaniasis caused by antimony-resistant parasites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luiza G. Tunes
- Instituto René Rachou/Fiocruz Minas−Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Belo Horizonte 30190-009, Brasil
| | - Roberta E. Morato
- Instituto René Rachou/Fiocruz Minas−Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Belo Horizonte 30190-009, Brasil
| | - Adriana Garcia
- Departamento de Química, Instituto de Ciências Exatas, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora 36036-900, Brasil
| | - Vinicius Schmitz
- Departamento de Química, Instituto de Ciências Exatas, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora 36036-900, Brasil
| | - Mario Steindel
- Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis 88040-900, Brasil
| | - José D. Corrêa-Junior
- Departamento de Morfologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, Brasil
| | - Hélio F. Dos Santos
- Departamento de Química, Instituto de Ciências Exatas, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora 36036-900, Brasil
| | - Frédéric Frézard
- Departamento de Fisiologia e Biofísica, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, Brasil
| | - Mauro V. de Almeida
- Departamento de Química, Instituto de Ciências Exatas, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora 36036-900, Brasil
| | - Heveline Silva
- Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, Brasil
| | - Nilmar S. Moretti
- Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo 04023-062, Brasil
| | - André L. B. de Barros
- Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, Brasil
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Garg A, Singh B, Sharma R, Singh A, Kumar A. Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators (SERMs): Mechanistic Insights Against Microbial Infections. Curr Mol Med 2020; 20:102-115. [PMID: 31622201 DOI: 10.2174/1566524019666191014112133] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2019] [Revised: 09/06/2019] [Accepted: 09/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Background:
Infections are one of the leading causes of death worldwide
and currently available treatments remain unsatisfactory due to rise in the cases of
antimicrobial resistance. Thus, there is a need for the development of new drugs with
different mechanisms of action. However, the development of new antimicrobials agents
is a long and expensive process. Hence, most of the pharmaceutical companies are
Methodology:
The data related to SERMs and microbial infection has been extracted
from Pub Med (from January 1997 to December 2018). A total of 101 studies have been
published from 1997 -2018 regarding SERMs and microbial infections.
Results:
On the basis of inclusion and exclusion criteria, 25 studies have been included
for the analysis of level of evidence regarding antimicrobial effects of SERMs. Emerging
reports have indicated the antimicrobial property of selective estrogen receptor
modulators (SERMs) against normal and resistant strains under in vitro and in vivo
conditions against wide variety of microorganisms through different mechanisms of
action.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, SERMs could be developed as a broad spectrum
antimicrobial agent alone or in combination with existing antimicrobial agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aakriti Garg
- Department of Pharmacology, Indo-Soviet Friendship College of Pharmacy (ISFCP), Moga, Punjab, India
| | - Balraj Singh
- Department of Pharmacology, Indo-Soviet Friendship College of Pharmacy (ISFCP), Moga, Punjab, India
| | - Ruchika Sharma
- Department of Biotechnology, Indo-Soviet Friendship Institute of Professional Studies (ISFIPS), Moga, Punjab, India
| | - Arti Singh
- Department of Pharmacology, Indo-Soviet Friendship College of Pharmacy (ISFCP), Moga, Punjab, India
| | - Anoop Kumar
- Department of Pharmacology, Indo-Soviet Friendship College of Pharmacy (ISFCP), Moga, Punjab, India
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23
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Braga SS. Multi-target drugs active against leishmaniasis: A paradigm of drug repurposing. Eur J Med Chem 2019; 183:111660. [PMID: 31514064 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2019.111660] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2019] [Revised: 08/27/2019] [Accepted: 08/28/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
This mini-review focuses on leishmanicidal drugs that were sourced from small molecules previously approved for other diseases. The mechanisms of action of these molecules are herein explored, to probe the origins of their inter-species growth inhibitory activities. It is shown how the transversal action of the azoles - fluconazole, posaconazole and itraconazole - in both fungi and Leishmania is due to the occurrence of the same target, lanosterol 14-α-demethylase, in these two groups of species. In turn, the drugs miltefosine and amphotericin B are presented as truly multi-target agents, acting on small molecules, proteins, genes and even organelles. Steps towards future leishmanicidal drug candidates based on the multi-target strategy and on drug repurposing are also briefly presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susana Santos Braga
- QOPNA & LAQV/REQUIMTE, Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal.
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24
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Landoni M, Piñero T, Soprano LL, Garcia-Bournissen F, Fichera L, Esteva MI, Duschak VG, Couto AS. Tamoxifen acts on Trypanosoma cruzi sphingolipid pathway triggering an apoptotic death process. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2019; 516:934-940. [PMID: 31277939 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2019.06.149] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2019] [Accepted: 06/27/2019] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
This study shows the effects of tamoxifen, a known estrogen receptor antagonist used in the treatment of breast cancer, on the sphingolipid pathway of Trypanosoma cruzi, searching for potential chemotherapeutic targets. A dose-dependent epimastigote growth inhibition at increasing concentration of tamoxifen was determined. In blood trypomastigotes, treatment with 10 μM showed 90% lysis, while 86% inhibition of intracellular amastigote development was obtained using 50 μM. Lipid extracts from treated and non-treated metabolically labelled epimastigotes evidenced by thin layer chromatography different levels of sphingolipids and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry analysis assured the identity of the labelled species. Comparison by HPLC-ESI mass spectrometry of lipids, notably exhibited a dramatic increase in the level of ceramide in tamoxifen-treated parasites and a restrained increase of ceramide-1P and sphingosine, indicating that the drug is acting on the enzymes involved in the final breakdown of ceramide. The ultrastructural analysis of treated parasites revealed characteristic morphology of cells undergoing an apoptotic-like death process. Flow cytometry confirmed cell death by an apoptotic-like machinery indicating that tamoxifen triggers this process by acting on the parasitic sphingolipid pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Malena Landoni
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, FCEN, Departamento de Química Orgánica - CONICET, CIHIDECAR, Intendente Güiraldes 2160, C1428GA, Ciudad Universitaria, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Tamara Piñero
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, FCEN, Departamento de Química Orgánica - CONICET, CIHIDECAR, Intendente Güiraldes 2160, C1428GA, Ciudad Universitaria, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Luciana L Soprano
- Instituto Nacional de Parasitología "Dr Mario Fatala Chaben", ANLIS-Malbrán, Secretaría de Salud de la Nación, Departamento de Investigación, Av. Paseo Colon 568, Buenos Aires, 1063, Argentina
| | - Facundo Garcia-Bournissen
- Instituto Multidisciplinario de Investigaciones en Enfermedades Pedíatricas (IMIPP), CONICET, Hospital de Niños "Ricardo Gutiérrez", Gallo 1330, Buenos Aires, 1425, Argentina
| | - Laura Fichera
- Instituto Nacional de Parasitología "Dr Mario Fatala Chaben", ANLIS-Malbrán, Secretaría de Salud de la Nación, Departamento de Investigación, Av. Paseo Colon 568, Buenos Aires, 1063, Argentina
| | - Monica I Esteva
- Instituto Nacional de Parasitología "Dr Mario Fatala Chaben", ANLIS-Malbrán, Secretaría de Salud de la Nación, Departamento de Investigación, Av. Paseo Colon 568, Buenos Aires, 1063, Argentina
| | - Vilma G Duschak
- Instituto Nacional de Parasitología "Dr Mario Fatala Chaben", ANLIS-Malbrán, Secretaría de Salud de la Nación, Departamento de Investigación, Av. Paseo Colon 568, Buenos Aires, 1063, Argentina
| | - Alicia S Couto
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, FCEN, Departamento de Química Orgánica - CONICET, CIHIDECAR, Intendente Güiraldes 2160, C1428GA, Ciudad Universitaria, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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25
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Compressed nanofibrous oral tablets: An ingenious way for controlled release kinetics of Amphotericin-B loaded gelatin nanofibers. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.nanoso.2019.100367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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26
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Rebello KM, Andrade-Neto VV, Gomes CRB, de Souza MVN, Branquinha MH, Santos ALS, Torres-Santos EC, d'Avila-Levy CM. Miltefosine-Lopinavir Combination Therapy Against Leishmania infantum Infection: In vitro and in vivo Approaches. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2019; 9:229. [PMID: 31316919 PMCID: PMC6611157 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2019.00229] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2019] [Accepted: 06/11/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Concurrently, leishmaniasis and AIDS are global public health issues and the overlap between these diseases adds additional treats to the management of co-infected patients. Lopinavir (LPV) has a well characterized anti-HIV and leishmanicidal action, and to analyze its combined action with miltefosine (MFS) could help to envisage strategies to the management of co-infected patients. Here, we evaluate the interaction between LPV and MFS against Leishmania infantum infection by in vitro and in vivo approaches. The effect of the compounds alone or in association was assessed for 72 h in mouse peritoneal macrophages infected with L. infantum by the determination of the IC50s and FICIs. Subsequently, mice were orally treated twice daily during 5 days with the compounds alone or in association and evaluated after 30 days. The in vitro assays revealed an IC50 of 0.24 μM and 9.89 μM of MFS and LPV, respectively, and an additive effect of the compounds (FICI 1.28). The in vivo assays revealed that LPV alone reduced the parasite load in the spleen and liver by 52 and 40%, respectively. The combined treatment of infected BALB/c mice revealed that the compounds alone required at least two times higher doses than when administered in association to virtually eliminate the parasite. Mice plasma biochemical parameters assessed revealed that the combined therapy did not present any relevant hepatotoxicity. In conclusion, the association of MFS with LPV allowed a reduction in each compound concentration to achieve the same outcome in the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis. Although a pronounced synergistic effect was not evidenced, it does not discard that such combination could be useful in humans co-infected with HIV and Leishmania parasites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karina M Rebello
- Laboratório de Estudos Integrados em Protozoologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Valter V Andrade-Neto
- Laboratório de Bioquímica de Tripanosomatídeos, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Claudia Regina B Gomes
- Laboratório de Síntese de Substâncias no Combate a Doenças Tropicais, Farmanguinhos, FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Marcos Vinícius N de Souza
- Laboratório de Síntese de Substâncias no Combate a Doenças Tropicais, Farmanguinhos, FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Marta H Branquinha
- Laboratório de Estudos Avançados de Microrganismos Emergentes e Resistentes, Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - André L S Santos
- Laboratório de Estudos Avançados de Microrganismos Emergentes e Resistentes, Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | | | - Claudia M d'Avila-Levy
- Laboratório de Estudos Integrados em Protozoologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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27
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Sundar S, Agrawal N, Singh B. Exploiting knowledge on pharmacodynamics-pharmacokinetics for accelerated anti-leishmanial drug discovery/development. Expert Opin Drug Metab Toxicol 2019; 15:595-612. [PMID: 31174439 DOI: 10.1080/17425255.2019.1629417] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Introduction: Being on the top list of neglected tropical diseases, leishmaniasis has been marked for elimination by 2020. In the light of small armamentarium of drugs and their associated drawbacks, the understanding of pharmacodynamics and/or pharmacokinetics becomes a priority to achieve and sustain disease elimination. Areas covered: The authors have looked into pharmacological aspects of existing and emerging drugs for treatment of leishmaniasis. An in-depth understanding of pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics (PKPD) provides a rationale for drug designing and optimizing the treatment strategies. It forms a key to prevent drug resistance and avoid drug-associated adverse effects. The authors have compiled the researches on the PKPD of different anti-leishmanial formulations that have the potential for improved and/or effective disease intervention. Expert opinion: Understanding the pharmacological aspects of drugs forms the basis for the clinical application of novel drugs. Tailoring drug dosage and individualized treatment can avoid the adverse events and bridge gap between the in vitro models and their clinical application. An integrated approach, with pragmatic use of technological advances can improve phenotypic screening and physiochemical properties of novel drugs. Concomitantly, this can serve to improve clinical efficacies, reduce the incidence of relapse and accelerate the drug discovery/development process for leishmaniasis elimination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shyam Sundar
- a Department of Medicine , Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University , Varanasi , India
| | - Neha Agrawal
- b Hepatology , Temple University , Philadelphia , PA , USA
| | - Bhawana Singh
- a Department of Medicine , Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University , Varanasi , India.,c Department of Pathology , Wexner Medical Center, The Ohio State University , Columbus , OH , USA
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28
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Mostafavi M, Sharifi I, Farajzadeh S, Khazaeli P, Sharifi H, Pourseyedi E, Kakooei S, Bamorovat M, Keyhani A, Parizi MH, Khosravi A, Khamesipour A. Niosomal formulation of amphotericin B alone and in combination with glucantime: In vitro and in vivo leishmanicidal effects. Biomed Pharmacother 2019; 116:108942. [PMID: 31152929 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2019.108942] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2019] [Revised: 04/22/2019] [Accepted: 04/29/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of glucantime and amphotericin B (AmB) encapsulated in niosome against cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) using in vitro and in vivo models. The niosomal formulations of the drugs alone and in combination were prepared and characterized. Subsequent to the examination of their cytotoxicity, their efficacy was evaluated using an in vitro MTT assay, macrophage model, flow cytometry, and gene expression profiling. For evaluation of therapeutic effect of niosomal combination on the lesion induced by Leishmania major in inbred BALB/c mice, the size of lesions and number of parasites in spleen was assessed. The niosomal formulations demonstrated significantly greater inhibitory effects compared with the non-niosomal forms when the IC50 was considered. The niosomal combination showed an increase in the apoptotic values and gene expression levels of IL-12 and metacaspase and a decrease in the levels of IL-10 with a dose-response effect. The niosomal combination was also effective in reducing the lesion size and splenic parasite burden in mice. Our findings indicated that there is a synergistic effect between AmB and glucantime in niosomal form in the inhibition of intracellular and extracellular forms of L. tropica. Additionally, the in vivo results on L. major suggest that topical niosomal formulation could be useful in the treatment of CL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mahshid Mostafavi
- Leishmaniasis Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
| | - Iraj Sharifi
- Leishmaniasis Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
| | - Saeedeh Farajzadeh
- Department of Pediatric dermatology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
| | - Payam Khazaeli
- Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
| | - Hamid Sharifi
- HIV/STI Surveillance Research Center, and WHO Collaborating Center for HIV Surveillance, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
| | - Elnaz Pourseyedi
- Pharmaceutics Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
| | - Sina Kakooei
- Oral and Dental Diseases Research Center, Dental School, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
| | - Mehdi Bamorovat
- Center of Tropical and Infectious Diseases, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
| | - Alireza Keyhani
- Leishmaniasis Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
| | - Maryam Hakimi Parizi
- Leishmaniasis Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
| | - Ahmad Khosravi
- Leishmaniasis Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
| | - Ali Khamesipour
- Center for Research and Training in Skin Diseases and Leprosy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
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29
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Lamotte S, Aulner N, Späth GF, Prina E. Discovery of novel hit compounds with broad activity against visceral and cutaneous Leishmania species by comparative phenotypic screening. Sci Rep 2019; 9:438. [PMID: 30679614 PMCID: PMC6345745 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-36944-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2018] [Accepted: 11/28/2018] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The limited success of recent phenotypic anti-leishmanial drug screening campaigns calls for new screening strategies for the discovery of clinically relevant hits. Here we present such a novel strategy based on physiologically relevant, ex vivo biology. We established high content phenotypic assays that combine primary murine macrophages and lesion-derived, virulent L. donovani and L. amazonensis amastigotes, which we applied to validate previously identified, anti-leishmanial hit compounds referred to as ‘GSK Leish-Box’. Together with secondary screens using cultured promastigotes, our pipeline distinguished stage- and/or species-specific compounds, including 20 hits with broad activity at 10 µM against intracellular amastigotes of both viscerotropic and dermotropic Leishmania. Even though the GSK Leish-Box hits were identified by phenotypic screening using THP-1 macrophage-like cells hosting culture-derived L. donovani LdBob parasites, our ex vivo assays only validated anti-leishmanial activity at 10 µM on intra-macrophagic L. donovani for 23 out of the 188 GSK Leish-Box hits. In conclusion, our comparative approach allowed the identification of hits with broad anti-leishmanial activity that represent interesting novel candidates to be tested in animal models. Physiologically more relevant screening approaches such as described here may reduce the very high attrition rate observed during pre-clinical and clinical phases of the drug development process.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Lamotte
- Institut Pasteur, Molecular Parasitology and Signaling, INSERM U1201, Department of Parasites and Insect Vectors, Paris, France
| | - N Aulner
- Institut Pasteur, UTechS Photonic BioImaging, Center for Technological Research and Resources, 75015, Paris, France
| | - G F Späth
- Institut Pasteur, Molecular Parasitology and Signaling, INSERM U1201, Department of Parasites and Insect Vectors, Paris, France.
| | - E Prina
- Institut Pasteur, Molecular Parasitology and Signaling, INSERM U1201, Department of Parasites and Insect Vectors, Paris, France.
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Abstract
The concept of repurposing previously approved medications to the treatment of new indications by taking advantage of off-target effects has gained traction in recent years, particularly in areas of medicine that do not offer large profits to pharmaceutical firms. As infectious disease discovery research has declined among large pharmaceutical companies, the potential payoff of repurposing has become attractive. The concept of repurposing previously approved medications to the treatment of new indications by taking advantage of off-target effects has gained traction in recent years, particularly in areas of medicine that do not offer large profits to pharmaceutical firms. As infectious disease discovery research has declined among large pharmaceutical companies, the potential payoff of repurposing has become attractive. From these efforts, the triphenylethylene class of selective estrogen receptor modulators related to tamoxifen has shown activity against a wide range of medically important human pathogens, including bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses. Because it has activity against many pathogens affecting people in resource-limited areas of the world, TAM and related drugs may be particularly useful. Here, we review the in vitro, in vivo, and mechanistic studies of the anti-infective activity of tamoxifen, toremifene, clomiphene, and their analogs. We also discuss the pharmacologic properties of this privileged scaffold and its potential utility in treating infectious diseases.
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31
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Trinconi CT, Miguel DC, Silber AM, Brown C, Mina JGM, Denny PW, Heise N, Uliana SRB. Tamoxifen inhibits the biosynthesis of inositolphosphorylceramide in Leishmania. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR PARASITOLOGY-DRUGS AND DRUG RESISTANCE 2018; 8:475-487. [PMID: 30399513 PMCID: PMC6216108 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpddr.2018.10.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2018] [Revised: 09/21/2018] [Accepted: 10/23/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Previous work from our group showed that tamoxifen, an oral drug that has been in use for the treatment of breast cancer for over 40 years, is active both in vitro and in vivo against several species of Leishmania, the etiological agent of leishmaniasis. Using a combination of metabolic labeling with [3H]-sphingosine and myo-[3H]-inositol, alkaline hydrolysis, HPTLC fractionations and mass spectrometry analyses, we observed a perturbation in the metabolism of inositolphosphorylceramides (IPCs) and phosphatidylinositols (PIs) after treatment of L. amazonensis promastigotes with tamoxifen, with a significant reduction in the biosynthesis of the major IPCs (composed of d16:1/18:0-IPC, t16:0/C18:0-IPC, d18:1/18:0-IPC and t16:0/20:0-IPC) and PIs (sn-1-O-(C18:0)alkyl -2-O-(C18:1)acylglycerol-3-HPO4-inositol and sn-1-O-(C18:0)acyl-2-O-(C18:1)acylglycerol-3-HPO4-inositol) species. Substrate saturation kinetics of myo-inositol uptake analyses indicated that inhibition of inositol transport or availability were not the main reasons for the reduced biosynthesis of IPC and PI observed in tamoxifen treated parasites. An in vitro enzymatic assay was used to show that tamoxifen was able to inhibit the Leishmania IPC synthase with an IC50 value of 8.48 μM (95% CI 7.68–9.37), suggesting that this enzyme is most likely one of the targets for this compound in the parasites. Tamoxifen alters the sphingolipid metabolism of L. amazonensis. Tamoxifen treated parasites show a significant reduction of IPC and PI species. Tamoxifen-treated parasites present a reduction of inositol transport. Tamoxifen is an inhibitor of L. major's IPC synthase in a micromolar range.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristiana T Trinconi
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes, 1374, São Paulo, SP, 05508-000, Brazil
| | - Danilo C Miguel
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes, 1374, São Paulo, SP, 05508-000, Brazil
| | - Ariel M Silber
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes, 1374, São Paulo, SP, 05508-000, Brazil
| | - Christopher Brown
- Department of Biosciences, Durham University, Stockton Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
| | - John G M Mina
- Department of Biosciences, Durham University, Stockton Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
| | - Paul W Denny
- Department of Biosciences, Durham University, Stockton Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
| | - Norton Heise
- Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Av. Carlos Chagas Filho, 373, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21941-902, Brazil
| | - Silvia R B Uliana
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes, 1374, São Paulo, SP, 05508-000, Brazil.
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Alcântara LM, Ferreira TCS, Gadelha FR, Miguel DC. Challenges in drug discovery targeting TriTryp diseases with an emphasis on leishmaniasis. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR PARASITOLOGY-DRUGS AND DRUG RESISTANCE 2018; 8:430-439. [PMID: 30293058 PMCID: PMC6195035 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpddr.2018.09.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2018] [Revised: 09/25/2018] [Accepted: 09/26/2018] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Tritryps diseases are devastating parasitic neglected infections caused by Leishmania spp., Trypanosoma cruzi and Trypanosoma brucei subspecies. Together, these parasites affect more than 30 million people worldwide and cause high mortality and morbidity. Leishmaniasis comprises a complex group of diseases with clinical manifestation ranging from cutaneous lesions to systemic visceral damage. Antimonials, the first-choice drugs used to treat leishmaniasis, lead to high toxicity and carry significant contraindications limiting its use. Drug-resistant parasite strains are also a matter for increasing concern, especially in areas with very limited resources. The current scenario calls for novel and/or improvement of existing therapeutics as key research priorities in the field. Although several studies have shown advances in drug discovery towards leishmaniasis in recent years, key knowledge gaps in drug discovery pipelines still need to be addressed. In this review we discuss not only scientific and non-scientific bottlenecks in drug development, but also the central role of public-private partnerships for a successful campaign for novel treatment options against this devastating disease. Treatment options targeting TriTryp diseases are limited. Scientific and non-scientific bottlenecks need to be unveiled for the development of new treatments. Private and public sector partnership is key to allow advances in bench-to-bedside science.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura M Alcântara
- Biology Institute, University of Campinas - UNICAMP, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Thalita C S Ferreira
- Biology Institute, University of Campinas - UNICAMP, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Fernanda R Gadelha
- Biology Institute, University of Campinas - UNICAMP, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Danilo C Miguel
- Biology Institute, University of Campinas - UNICAMP, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
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Emiliano YSS, Almeida-Amaral EE. Efficacy of Apigenin and Miltefosine Combination Therapy against Experimental Cutaneous Leishmaniasis. JOURNAL OF NATURAL PRODUCTS 2018; 81:1910-1913. [PMID: 30095915 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.8b00356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by several different species of Leishmania. Treatment of leishmaniasis involves a limited drug arsenal that is associated with severe side effects, high costs, and drug resistance. Therefore, combination therapy has emerged as a strategy to improve leishmaniasis treatment. Here, we report the interaction of miltefosine and apigenin in vitro and in vivo. Combination therapy using low doses of these two drugs results in good clinical and parasitological responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yago S S Emiliano
- Laboratório de Bioquímica de Tripanosomatideos, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (IOC) , Fundação Oswaldo Cruz-FIOCRUZ, Pavilhão Leônidas Deane , 4° andar, sala 405A, Manguinhos , 21045-900 , Rio de Janeiro , RJ , Brazil
| | - Elmo E Almeida-Amaral
- Laboratório de Bioquímica de Tripanosomatideos, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (IOC) , Fundação Oswaldo Cruz-FIOCRUZ, Pavilhão Leônidas Deane , 4° andar, sala 405A, Manguinhos , 21045-900 , Rio de Janeiro , RJ , Brazil
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Wijnant GJ, Van Bocxlaer K, Yardley V, Murdan S, Croft SL. Efficacy of Paromomycin-Chloroquine Combination Therapy in Experimental Cutaneous Leishmaniasis. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2017; 61:e00358-17. [PMID: 28607026 PMCID: PMC5527568 DOI: 10.1128/aac.00358-17] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2017] [Accepted: 05/13/2017] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The 4-aminoquinoline chloroquine (CQ) is clinically used in combination with doxycycline to cure chronic Q fever, as it enhances the activity of the antibiotic against the causative bacterium Coxiella burnetii residing within macrophage phagolysosomes. As there is a similar cellular host-pathogen biology for Leishmania parasites, this study aimed to determine whether such an approach could also be the basis for a new, improved treatment for cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). We have evaluated the in vitro and in vivo activities of combinations of CQ with the standard drugs paromomycin (PM), miltefosine, and amphotericin B against Leishmania major and Leishmania mexicana In 72-h intracellular antileishmanial assays, outcomes were variable for different drugs. Significantly, the addition of 10 μM CQ to PM reduced 50% effective concentrations (EC50s) by over 5-fold against L. major and against normally insensitive L. mexicana parasites. In murine models of L. major and L. mexicana CL, daily coadministration of 50 mg/kg of body weight PM and 25 mg/kg CQ for 10 days resulted in a significant reduction in lesion size but not in parasite load compared to those for mice given the same doses of PM alone. Overall, our data indicate that PM-CQ combination therapy is unlikely to be a potential candidate for further preclinical development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gert-Jan Wijnant
- Department of Immunology and Infection, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
- Department of Pharmaceutics, UCL School of Pharmacy, London, United Kingdom
| | - Katrien Van Bocxlaer
- Department of Immunology and Infection, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Vanessa Yardley
- Department of Immunology and Infection, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Sudaxshina Murdan
- Department of Pharmaceutics, UCL School of Pharmacy, London, United Kingdom
| | - Simon L Croft
- Department of Immunology and Infection, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
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Salama IC, Arrais-Lima C, Arrais-Silva WW. Evaluation of Boldine Activity against Intracellular Amastigotes of Leishmania amazonensis. THE KOREAN JOURNAL OF PARASITOLOGY 2017; 55:337-340. [PMID: 28719960 PMCID: PMC5523901 DOI: 10.3347/kjp.2017.55.3.337] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2016] [Revised: 03/02/2017] [Accepted: 03/10/2017] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
Leishmaniasis is a neglected and endemic disease that affects poorest population mainly in developing countries. A lack of adequate and definitive chemotherapeutic agents to fight against this infection has led to the investigation of numerous compounds. The aim of this study was to investigate in vitro activity of boldine against Leishmania amazonensis murine cell infection. Boldine ((S)-2,9-dihydroxy-1,10-dimethoxy-aporphine) is an aporphine alkaloid found abundantly in the leaves/bark of boldo (Peumus boldus Molina), a widely distributed tree native to Chile. The in vitro system consisted of murine macrophage infection with amastigotes of L. amazonensis treated with different concentrations from 50 to 600 μg/ml of boldine for 24 hr. Intracellular parasite destruction was assessed by morphological examination and boldine cytotoxicity to macrophages was tested by the MTT viability assay. When cells were treated with 100 μg/ml of boldine the reduction of parasite infection was 81% compared with untreated cultures cells. Interestingly, boldine-treatment caused a concentration-dependent decrease of macrophage infection that culminated with 96% of reduction when cells were submitted to 600 μg/ml of boldine. Cell cultures exposed to 100 μg/ml of boldine and 300 μg/ml of Glucantime® during 24 hr showed a significant reduction of 50% in parasitized cells compared with cell cultures exposed just to Glucantime®. The study showed that treatment with boldine produces a better effect than treatment with the reference antimonial drug, glucantime, in L. amazonensis infected macrophage. Our results suggest that boldine is a potentially useful agent for the treatment of leishmaniasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isabel Cristina Salama
- Laboratório de Parasitos e Vetores (LAPAV), Instituto de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Campus Universitário do Araguaia, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Avenida Valdon Varjão, 6390 - Barra do Garças, Mato Grosso, CEP 78600-000, Brazil
| | - Cristina Arrais-Lima
- Laboratório de Parasitos e Vetores (LAPAV), Instituto de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Campus Universitário do Araguaia, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Avenida Valdon Varjão, 6390 - Barra do Garças, Mato Grosso, CEP 78600-000, Brazil
| | - Wagner Welber Arrais-Silva
- Laboratório de Parasitos e Vetores (LAPAV), Instituto de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Campus Universitário do Araguaia, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Avenida Valdon Varjão, 6390 - Barra do Garças, Mato Grosso, CEP 78600-000, Brazil.,Departamento de Morfologia, Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Avenida Marechal Rondon, S/N - Jardim Rosa Elze - São Cristóvão, SE, CEP 49100-000, Brazil
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36
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Nunes DCDO, Bispo-da-Silva LB, Napolitano DR, Costa MS, Figueira MMNR, Rodrigues RS, Rodrigues VDM, Yoneyama KAG. In vitro additive interaction between ketoconazole and antimony against intramacrophage Leishmania (Leishmania) amazonensis amastigotes. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0180530. [PMID: 28662149 PMCID: PMC5491259 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0180530] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2017] [Accepted: 06/16/2017] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Leishmaniasis is a group of diseases caused by protozoa of Leishmania genus. The currently available treatments for this disease are expensive, present high toxicity and are associated to difficulties of healing and parasite resistance. Therefore, the development of strategies for leishmaniasis treatment is indispensable and includes reposition of existing drugs, as well as drug combination therapy. The aim of this study was to assess the nature of ketoconazole and antimony association on the cytotoxic effect against Leishmania (Leishmania) amazonensis amastigotes. The calculated mean sum of fractional 50% inhibitory concentration ( x¯ΣFIC50) was 2.54 and 1.43 for free and intracellular amastigotes, respectively, values that suggest an additive interaction between ketoconazole and antimony concerning to Leishmania toxicity only in the intramacrophage parasite form. Despite the clinical efficacy of ketoconazole-antimony combination has been shown in the literature, our study is the first to describe the nature of ketoconazole-antimony interaction against L. (L.) amazonensis amastigotes. Moreover, our results point out the need for future in vivo studies to confirm the nature of ketoconazole-antimony interaction and also to determine possible effective dosage regimens related to ketoconazole administration in association with the optimal lower dose of antimony.
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Affiliation(s)
- Débora Cristina de Oliveira Nunes
- Instituto de Genética e Bioquímica, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
- Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Nano-Biofarmacêutica (N-Biofar), Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Luiz Borges Bispo-da-Silva
- Área de Ciências Fisiológicas, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Danielle Reis Napolitano
- Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Nano-Biofarmacêutica (N-Biofar), Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
- Área de Ciências Fisiológicas, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Mônica Soares Costa
- Instituto de Genética e Bioquímica, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | | | - Renata Santos Rodrigues
- Instituto de Genética e Bioquímica, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
- Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Nano-Biofarmacêutica (N-Biofar), Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Veridiana de Melo Rodrigues
- Instituto de Genética e Bioquímica, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
- Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Nano-Biofarmacêutica (N-Biofar), Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
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Abamor ES, Allahverdiyev AM, Bagirova M, Rafailovich M. Meglumine antımoniate-TiO2@Ag nanoparticle combinations reduce toxicity of the drug while enhancing its antileishmanial effect. Acta Trop 2017; 169:30-42. [PMID: 28111133 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2017.01.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2016] [Revised: 01/08/2017] [Accepted: 01/09/2017] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Currently, the treatment of leishmaniasis is increasingly insufficient as current antileishmanial drugs have many disadvantages such as toxic side effects, high cost, and growing drug resistance. In order to overcome these disadvantages, researchers have recently focused on combination therapy by using pentavalent antimonials in conjunction with other antileihmanial compounds. Our previous study found that TiO2@Ag nanoparticles (TiAgNps) demonstrated significant antileishmanial effects. However, a lethal dose of TiAgNps on L. topica promastigotes was found to be toxic for macrophage cells. Moreover, non-toxic concentrations of TiAgNps were ineffective in inhibiting L. topica promastigotes and amastigotes. Thus, we propose the use of TiAgNps in combination with other antileishmanial compounds like meglumine antimoniate (MA) at non-toxic concentrations, which may increase the efficacies of both agents and decrease their toxicities. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine in vitro and in vivo antileishmanial efficacies of TiAgNps-MA combinations at non-toxic concentrations and develop a new approach for treatment that lowers the toxicities of pentavalent antimonials to minimal levels and enhances their effectiveness. In vitro screening was performed on L. topica promastigote and amastigote-macropage culture by using MTT assay to determine proliferation, perform infection index analysis, and to conduct a Griess reaction for nitric oxide production, while in vivo antileishmanial assays were applied on Balb/c mice with CL models. The results demonstrated that combinations including TiAgNps and MA at non-toxic concentrations were highly efficacious against both promastigotes and amastigotes, while MA application alone did not show any inhibitory effects. It was determined that combination applications decreased the proliferation of L. topica promastigotes 2- to 5-fold in contrast to use of MA alone, and was dependent on concentrations. Moreover, the use of combinations led to inhibition of L. topica amastigotes at rates ranging between 80% and 95%. Additionally, combinations were found to decrease metabolic activities of each form of the parasite at ranges between 7- to 20-fold, causing programmed-cell death and stimulation of macrophages for intensive production of nitric oxide, which is accepted as an important antileishmanial agent (p<0.05). Furthermore, Σ FIC analysis demonstrated that the tested combinations composed little additive, but mostly synergistic effects for inhibition of promastigotes and amastigotes. According to in vivo screening results, the combinations displayed high antileishmanial activities by successfully healing lesions and significantly reducing parasite burdens. Combined, these results show that TiAgNps-MA combinations were much more effective than use of MA alone at non-toxic concentrations and they possess high potential for development of new antileishmanial drugs to fight against leishmaniasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emrah Sefik Abamor
- Yildiz Technical University, Bioengineering Department, Esenler, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Adil M Allahverdiyev
- Yildiz Technical University, Bioengineering Department, Esenler, Istanbul, Turkey.
| | - Melahat Bagirova
- Yildiz Technical University, Bioengineering Department, Esenler, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Miriam Rafailovich
- SUNY Stony Brook University, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, NY, USA
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New iminodibenzyl derivatives with anti-leishmanial activity. J Inorg Biochem 2017; 172:9-15. [PMID: 28414928 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2017.04.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2016] [Revised: 02/06/2017] [Accepted: 04/02/2017] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
Leishmaniasis is an infection caused by protozoa of the genus Leishmania and transmitted by sandflies. Current treatments are expensive and time-consuming, involving Sb(V)-based compounds, lipossomal amphotericin B and miltefosine. Recent studies suggest that inhibition of trypanothione reductase (TR) could be a specific target in the development of new drugs because it is essential and exclusive to trypanosomatids. This work presents the synthesis and characterization of new iminodibenzyl derivatives (dado) with ethylenediamine (ea), ethanolamine (en) and diethylenetriamine (dien) and their copper(II) complexes. Computational methods indicated that the complexes were highly lipophilic. Pro-oxidant activity assays by oxidation of the dihydrorhodamine (DHR) fluorimetric probe showed that [Cu(dado-ea)]2+ has the highest rate of oxidation, independent of H2O2 concentration. The toxicity to L. amazonensis promastigotes and RAW 264,7 macrophages was assessed, showing that dado-en was the most active new compound. Complexation to copper did not have an appreciable effect on the toxicity of the compounds.
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Safety and efficacy of current alternatives in the topical treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis: a systematic review. Parasitology 2017; 144:995-1004. [DOI: 10.1017/s0031182017000385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
SUMMARYStudies of topical treatments for leishmaniasis were systematically reviewed, to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy, safety and any adverse effects of these treatments. The papers identified in the databases PubMed and Web of Knowledge involved eight studies with a total of 1744 patients. The majority of trials was from Iran (4/8), covered a period of 8 years (2003–2011), and included patients 4–85 years of age. The most frequent Leishmania species in the studies were L. tropica (4/8) and L. major (2/8). The treatments administered were thermotherapy, paromomycin and combinations, CO2 laser, 5-aminolevulinic acid hydrochloride (10%) plus visible red light (633 nm) and cryotherapy. Six articles reported cure rates over 80·0%. Six studies reported on failure rates, three of them reporting rates lower than 10%. Four studies did not report relapses or recurrences, while the other studies reported low rates (1·8–6·3%). The most common adverse effects of the topical treatments were redness/erythema, pain, pruritus burning, oedema, vesicles and hyper- or hypopigmentation. The results provide strong evidence that the treatments topical evaluated showed high cure rates, safety and effectiveness, with low side-effects, relapse and recurrence rates, except for cryotherapy, which showed a moderate cure rate.
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Abstract
The aims of the present work were to test the effect of tamoxifen administered topically and the therapeutic efficacy of tamoxifen and pentavalent antimonial combinations in an experimental model of cutaneous leishmaniasis. BALB/c mice infected with a luciferase expressing line of Leishmania amazonensis were treated with topical tamoxifen in two different formulations (ethanol or oil-free cream) as monotherapy or in co-administration with pentavalent antimonial. Treatment efficacy was evaluated by lesion size and parasite burden, quantified through luminescence, at the end of treatment and 4 weeks later. Topical tamoxifen, formulated in ethanol or as a cream, was shown to be effective. The interaction between tamoxifen and pentavalent antimonial was additive in vitro. Treatment with combined schemes containing tamoxifen and pentavalent antimonial was effective in reducing lesion size and parasite burden. Co-administration of tamoxifen and pentavalent antimonial was superior to monotherapy with antimonial.
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Celes FS, Trovatti E, Khouri R, Van Weyenbergh J, Ribeiro SJL, Borges VM, Barud HS, de Oliveira CI. DETC-based bacterial cellulose bio-curatives for topical treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis. Sci Rep 2016; 6:38330. [PMID: 27922065 PMCID: PMC5138610 DOI: 10.1038/srep38330] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2016] [Accepted: 11/07/2016] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The treatment of leishmaniasis still relies on drugs with potentially serious adverse effects. Herein, we tested a topical formulation of bacterial cellulose (BC) membranes containing Diethyldithiocarbamate (DETC), a superoxide dismutase 1 inhibitor. Leishmania-infected macrophages exposed to BC-DETC resulted in parasite killing, without pronounced toxic effects to host cells. This outcome was associated with lower SOD1 activity and higher production of superoxide and cytokine mediators. Topical application of BC-DETC significantly decreased lesion size, parasite load and the inflammatory response at the infection site, as well as the production of both IFN-γ and TNF. Combination of topical BC-DETC plus intraperitoneal Sbv also significantly reduced disease development and parasite load. The leishmanicidal effect of BC-DETC was extended to human macrophages infected with L. braziliensis, highlighting the feasibility of BC-DETC as a topical formulation for chemotherapy of cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by L. braziliensis.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Eliane Trovatti
- Instituto de Química, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Araraquara, SP, Brazil.,Universidade de Araraquara-UNIARA, Araraquara, SP, Brazil
| | | | - Johan Van Weyenbergh
- Rega Institute for Medical Research, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, K. U. Leuven, Belgium
| | - Sidney J L Ribeiro
- Instituto de Química, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Araraquara, SP, Brazil
| | | | - Hernane S Barud
- Instituto de Química, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Araraquara, SP, Brazil.,Universidade de Araraquara-UNIARA, Araraquara, SP, Brazil
| | - Camila I de Oliveira
- Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, FIOCRUZ, Salvador, BA, Brazil.,Instituto de Investigação em Imunologia (iii), INCT, São Paulo, Brazil
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Maurya R, Bhattacharya P, Ismail N, Dagur PK, Joshi AB, Razdan K, McCoy JP, Ascher J, Dey R, Nakhasi HL. Differential Role of Leptin as an Immunomodulator in Controlling Visceral Leishmaniasis in Normal and Leptin-Deficient Mice. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2016; 95:109-119. [PMID: 27114296 PMCID: PMC4944674 DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.15-0804] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2015] [Accepted: 03/07/2016] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is caused by the protozoan parasite Leishmania donovani. There are no vaccines and available drugs against leishmaniasis are toxic. Immunomodulators that specifically boost the anti-microbial activities of the immune cells could alleviate several of these limitations. Therefore, finding novel immunomodulators for VL therapy is a pressing need. This study is aimed to evaluate the immunomodulatory role of leptin, an adipocyte-derived hormone capable of regulating the immune response, in L. donovani-infected mice. We observed that recombinant leptin treatment reduced splenic parasite burden compared with non-treated infected normal mice. Decrease in parasite burden correlated with an induction of innate immune response in antigen-presenting cells that showed an increase in nitric oxide, enhanced pro-inflammatory cytokine (interferon gamma [IFNγ], interleukin12 [IL]12, and IL1β) response in the splenocytes, indicating host-protecting Th1 response mediated by leptin. Moreover, in infected normal mice, leptin treatment induced IFNγ production from both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, compared with non-treated infected mice. Alternatively, leptin-deficient (Ob/Ob) mice had higher splenic and liver parasite burden compared with the infected normal mice. However, leptin treatment failed to reduce the splenic parasite burden and improve a host-protective cytokine response in these mice. In addition, in contrast to dendritic cells (DCs) from a normal mouse, Ob/Ob mouse–derived DCs showed a defect in the induction of innate immune response on Leishmania infection that could not be reversed by leptin treatment. Therefore, our findings reveal that leptin has a differential immunomodulatory effect in controlling VL in normal and Ob/Ob mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Radheshyam Maurya
- Department of Animal Biology, School of Life Science, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India.,Division of Emerging and Transfusion Transmitted Diseases, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, Maryland
| | - Parna Bhattacharya
- Division of Emerging and Transfusion Transmitted Diseases, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, Maryland
| | - Nevien Ismail
- Division of Emerging and Transfusion Transmitted Diseases, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, Maryland
| | - Pradeep K Dagur
- Flow Cytometry Core, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Amritanshu B Joshi
- Division of Emerging and Transfusion Transmitted Diseases, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, Maryland
| | - Kundan Razdan
- Division of Emerging and Transfusion Transmitted Diseases, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, Maryland
| | - J Philip McCoy
- Flow Cytometry Core, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Jill Ascher
- Division of Veterinary Services, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, Maryland
| | - Ranadhir Dey
- Division of Emerging and Transfusion Transmitted Diseases, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, Maryland
| | - Hira L Nakhasi
- Division of Emerging and Transfusion Transmitted Diseases, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, Maryland
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Doroodgar M, Delavari M, Doroodgar M, Abbasi A, Taherian AA, Doroodgar A. Tamoxifen Induces Apoptosis of Leishmania major Promastigotes in Vitro. THE KOREAN JOURNAL OF PARASITOLOGY 2016; 54:9-14. [PMID: 26951973 PMCID: PMC4792327 DOI: 10.3347/kjp.2016.54.1.9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2015] [Revised: 08/15/2015] [Accepted: 08/31/2015] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Tamoxifen is an antagonist of the estrogen receptor and currently used for the treatment of breast cancer. The current treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis with pentavalent antimony compounds is not satisfactory. Therefore, in this study, due to its antileishmanial activity, effects of tamoxifen on the growth of promastigotes and amastigotes of Leishmania major Iranian strain were evaluated in vitro. Promastigotes and amastigotes were treated with different concentrations (1, 5, 10, 20, and 50 μg/ml) and time periods (24, 48, and 72 hr) of tamoxifen. After tamoxifen treatment, MTT assay (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5 biphenyl tetrazolium bromide assay) was used to determine the percentage of live parasites and Graph Pad Prism software to calculate IC50. Flow cytometry was applied to investigate the induction of tamoxifen-induced apoptosis in promastigotes. The half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of tamoxifen on promastigotes was 2.6 μg/ml after 24 hr treatment. Flow cytometry analysis showed that tamoxifen induced early and late apoptosis in Leishmania promastigotes. While after 48 hr in control group the apoptosis was 2.0%, the 50 µg/L concentration of tamoxifen increased it to 59.7%. Based on the in vitro antileishmanial effect, tamoxifen might be used for leishmaniasis treatment; however, further researches on in vivo effects of tamoxifen in animal models are needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masoud Doroodgar
- School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR. Iran
| | - Mahdi Delavari
- Department of Medical Parasitology, School of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, IR. Iran
| | - Moein Doroodgar
- School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR. Iran
| | - Ali Abbasi
- Department of Medical Parasitology, School of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, IR. Iran
| | - Ali Akbar Taherian
- Department of Pathology and Histology, School of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, IR. Iran
| | - Abbas Doroodgar
- Department of Medical Parasitology, School of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, IR. Iran
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Trinconi CT, Reimão JQ, Coelho AC, Uliana SRB. Efficacy of tamoxifen and miltefosine combined therapy for cutaneous leishmaniasis in the murine model of infection withLeishmania amazonensis. J Antimicrob Chemother 2016; 71:1314-22. [DOI: 10.1093/jac/dkv495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2015] [Accepted: 12/21/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Eissa MM, El-Moslemany RM, Ramadan AA, Amer EI, El-Azzouni MZ, El-Khordagui LK. Miltefosine Lipid Nanocapsules for Single Dose Oral Treatment of Schistosomiasis Mansoni: A Preclinical Study. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0141788. [PMID: 26574746 PMCID: PMC4648507 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0141788] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2015] [Accepted: 10/13/2015] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Miltefosine (MFS) is an alkylphosphocholine used for the local treatment of cutaneous metastases of breast cancer and oral therapy of visceral leishmaniasis. Recently, the drug was reported in in vitro and preclinical studies to exert significant activity against different developmental stages of schistosomiasis mansoni, a widespread chronic neglected tropical disease (NTD). This justified MFS repurposing as a potential antischistosomal drug. However, five consecutive daily 20 mg/kg doses were needed for the treatment of schistosomiasis mansoni in mice. The present study aims at enhancing MFS efficacy to allow for a single 20mg/kg oral dose therapy using a nanotechnological approach based on lipid nanocapsules (LNCs) as oral nanovectors. MFS was incorporated in LNCs both as membrane-active structural alkylphospholipid component and active antischistosomal agent. MFS-LNC formulations showed high entrapment efficiency (EE%), good colloidal properties, sustained release pattern and physical stability. Further, LNCs generally decreased MFS-induced erythrocyte hemolytic activity used as surrogate indicator of membrane activity. While MFS-free LNCs exerted no antischistosomal effect, statistically significant enhancement was observed with all MFS-LNC formulations. A maximum effect was achieved with MFS-LNCs incorporating CTAB as positive charge imparting agent or oleic acid as membrane permeabilizer. Reduction of worm load, ameliorated liver pathology and extensive damage of the worm tegument provided evidence for formulation-related efficacy enhancement. Non-compartmental analysis of pharmacokinetic data obtained in rats indicated independence of antischistosomal activity on systemic drug exposure, suggesting possible gut uptake of the stable LNCs and targeting of the fluke tegument which was verified by SEM. The study findings put forward MFS-LNCs as unique oral nanovectors combining the bioactivity of MFS and biopharmaceutical advantages of LNCs, allowing targeting via the oral route. From a clinical point of view, data suggest MFS-LNCs as a potential single dose oral nanomedicine for enhanced therapy of schistosomiasis mansoni and possibly other diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maha M. Eissa
- Department of Medical Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt
| | - Riham M. El-Moslemany
- Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt
| | - Alyaa A. Ramadan
- Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt
| | - Eglal I. Amer
- Department of Medical Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt
| | - Mervat Z. El-Azzouni
- Department of Medical Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt
| | - Labiba K. El-Khordagui
- Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt
- * E-mail:
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Shivahare R, Ali W, Vishwakarma P, Natu S, Puri SK, Gupta S. Leptin augments protective immune responses in murine macrophages and enhances potential of miltefosine against experimental visceral leishmaniasis. Acta Trop 2015; 150:35-41. [PMID: 26119043 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2015.06.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2015] [Revised: 06/19/2015] [Accepted: 06/22/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Adverse side effects and drug resistance issues are the two most important drawbacks which influence the widespread use of existing antileishmanial drugs. Use of immune stimulating agent with standard antileishmanial might be helpful to minimize the toxic effect of drug, shorten the dose regimen and delay the emergence of resistance. In the present study, we explored the in vitro immunomodulatory potential of an immunomodulator, leptin with lower concentration of standard drug, miltefosine. The level of Th1/Th2 cytokines, production of nitric oxide and reactive oxygen species and phagocytic activity was assessed by ELISA, Griess reaction and flow cytometric analysis, respectively. Leptin at a concentration of 15μg/mL showed heightened level of Th1 cytokines and nitric oxide generation from murine macrophages (J-774A.1 cells). Leptin (15μg/mL) also reduces the effective concentration of miltefosine by 2-folds from 7.5μM to 3.7μM. When given in conjunction with lower concentration of miltefosine (4μM), leptin (15μg/mL) significantly (***p<0.001) elevated the level of IL-12 (7.7 fold), TNF-α (8.1 fold) and nitric oxide (6.6 fold) along with markedly (***p<0.001) suppressed level of IL-10 and TGF-β when compared with untreated infected macrophages. Leptin plus miltefosine also induces the phagocytic ability (**p<0.01) of macrophages in comparison to leptin alone and miltefosine alone treated groups. These finding illustrate that leptin activates host macrophages to generate protective immune response for the successful elimination of Leishmania parasite at lower concentration of miltefosine and has potential for further exploration in experimental animal model of visceral leishmaniasis (VL).
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Santos DM, Petersen ALOA, Celes FS, Borges VM, Veras PST, de Oliveira CI. Chemotherapeutic potential of 17-AAG against cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2014; 8:e3275. [PMID: 25340794 PMCID: PMC4207694 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0003275] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2014] [Accepted: 09/16/2014] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Leishmaniasis remains a worldwide public health problem. The limited therapeutic options, drug toxicity and reports of resistance, reinforce the need for the development of new treatment options. Previously, we showed that 17-(allylamino)-17-demethoxygeldanamycin (17-AAG), a Heat Shock Protein 90 (HSP90)-specific inhibitor, reduces L. (L.) amazonensis infection in vitro. Herein, we expand the current knowledge on the leishmanicidal activity of 17-AAG against cutaneous leishmaniasis, employing an experimental model of infection with L. (V.) braziliensis. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Exposure of axenic L. (V.) braziliensis promastigotes to 17-AAG resulted in direct dose-dependent parasite killing. These results were extended to L. (V.) braziliensis-infected macrophages, an effect that was dissociated from the production of nitric oxide (NO), superoxide (O(-2)) or inflammatory mediators such as TNF-α, IL-6 and MCP-1. The leishmanicidal effect was then demonstrated in vivo, employing BALB/c mice infected with L. braziliensis. In this model, 17-AAG treatment resulted in smaller skin lesions and parasite counts were also significantly reduced. Lastly, 17-AAG showed a similar effect to amphotericin B regarding the ability to reduce parasite viability. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE 17-AAG effectively inhibited the growth of L. braziliensis, both in vitro and in vivo. Given the chronicity of L. (V.) braziliensis infection and its association with mucocutaneous leishmaniasis, 17-AAG can be envisaged as a new chemotherapeutic alternative for cutaneous Leishmaniasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diego M. Santos
- Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
| | | | - Fabiana S. Celes
- Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
| | - Valeria M. Borges
- Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
- Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia de Investigação em Imunologia (iii-INCT), Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
| | - Patricia S. T. Veras
- Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
| | - Camila I. de Oliveira
- Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
- Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia de Investigação em Imunologia (iii-INCT), Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
- * E-mail:
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