Preclinical stem cell therapy in Chagas Disease: Perspectives for future research

Hydroxamic acid derivatives: a promising scaffold for rational compound optimization in Chagas disease

This work describes the antitrypanocidal activity of two hydroxamic acid derivatives containing o-ethoxy (HAD1) and p-ethoxy (HAD2) as substituent in the aromatic ring linked to the isoxazoline ring. HAD1 and HAD2 induced a significant reduction in the number of intracellular parasites and consequently showed activity on the multiplication of the parasite. Treatment of cardiomyocytes and macrophages with the compounds revealed no significant loss in cell viability. Ultrastructural alterations after treatment of cardiomyocytes or macrophages infected by Trypanosoma cruzi with the IC50 value of HAD1 revealed alterations to amastigotes, showing initial damage seen as swelling of the kinetoplast. This gave a good indication of the ability of the drug to permeate through the host cell membrane as well as its selectivity to the parasite target. Both compounds HAD1 and 2 were able to reduce the cysteine peptidases and decrease the activity of metallopeptidases.

Chagas disease in the 21st century: a public health success or an emerging threat?

Chagas disease, caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, is a major public health burden in Latin America and a potentially serious emerging threat to a number of countries throughout the world. Although public health programs have significantly reduced the prevalence of Chagas disease in Latin America in recent decades, the number of infections in the United States and non-endemic countries in Europe and the Western Pacific Region continues to rise. Moreover, there is still no vaccine or highly effective cure available for the approximately 10 million people currently infected with T. cruzi, a third of which will develop potentially fatal cardiomyopathy and/or severe digestive tract disorders. As Chagas disease becomes an increasingly globalized public health issue in the twenty-first century, continued attentiveness from governmental and health organizations as well as improved diagnostic tools, expanded surveillance and increased research funding will be required to maintain existing public health successes and stymie the spread of the disease to new areas and populations.