Parasitic diseases leishmaniasis

Clinical trials have been conducted using berberine suggesting that this compound may be beneficial in the treatment of trachomas (eye infections), bacterial diarrhea, and leishmaniasis (parasitic disease). Berberine has been shown to be safe in the majority of clinical trials. However, there is a potential for interaction between berberine and many prescription medications, and berberine should not be used by pregnant or breastfeeding women, due to potential for adverse effects (Table 41.1). 

In 1912, however, (201) it was discovered that espundia (American mucocutaneous leishmaniasis) can be cured by tartar emetic. It was soon learned that kala-a2ar (visceral leishmaniasis) and oriental sore (a cutaneous form of the disease occurring in the Middle East) also respond to antimonial therapy, especially when compounds of pentavalent antimony are employed. Treatment of leishmaniasis with the latter type of antimonials is safe and effective in over 90% of the cases (202). In 1918, it was demonstrated that tartar emetic is of value in the treatment of schistosomiasis (203). Pentavalent antimonials proved to be less effective. The introduction of antimony compounds for the treatment of parasitic diseases is undoubtedly one of the important milestones in the history of therapeutics (see Antiparasitic agents). 

Parasitic diseases, such as trypanosomiasis, malaria, and leishmaniasis, affect himdreds of millions people around the world, mainly in underdeveloped countries. They are also the most common opportunistic infections that affect patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Globally, malaria occupies the first place, but in Latin America, Chagas disease (American Trypanosomiasis) is the most relevant parasitic disease that produces morbidity and mortahty in low-income individuals. 

IFN-y may also prove valuable in treating a variety of other conditions, and clinical trials for various indications are currently underway. This cytokine shows promise in treating leishmaniasis, a disease common in tropical and subtropical regions. The causative agent is a parasitic protozoan of the genus Leishmania. The disease is characterized by the presence of these protozoa inside certain immune cells, particularly macrophages. IFN-y appears to stimulate the infected macrophage to produce nitric oxide, which is toxic for the parasite. 

The second parasitic disease we want to consider is sleeping sickness, or African trypanosomiasis, as it is also known. Sleeping sickness results from an infection by protozoa called trypanosomes that are closely related to Leishmania, and, like leishmaniasis, sleeping sickness is spread by flies. On a more general level, however, the two diseases seem quite distinct. Leishmaniasis takes several forms, only one of which is fatal, but untreated sleeping sickness invariably leads to death. Leishmaniasis is a menace in much of the... 

No pentavalent antimonial is licensed for use, but sodium stibogluconate is available from the Parasitic Disease Drug Service of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for treatment of leishmaniasis. While the pentavalent antimony compounds can be given intravenously or intramuscularly, local infiltration of the lesion in cutaneous leishmaniasis is highly effective. Because of the lower toxicity of liposomal amphotericin B, this drug is considered a first-line choice for vis-cerotropic leishmaniasis rather than the antimonials. 

Quinolines represent an important class of heterocycles, and the quinoline skeleton is present in various natural products, especially in alkaloids. Among them quinine is an active ingredient for the treatment of malaria [286]. Despite its relatively low efficacy and tolerability, quinine still plays an important role in the treatment of multiresistant malaria, one of the world s most devastating infectious diseases [287]. Therefore, the design of many drugs and affordable chemotherapies are based upon synthetic quinoline derivatives, such as chloroquine, mefloquine or quinacrine [288-292]. In addition, chimanine alkaloids, are also effective against parasitic diseases such as leishmaniasis and trypanosomiasis [293-295]. Besides,... 

This section considers the life cycles, disease and pathology of some blood and tissue parasites this is not an exhaustive list but covers some of the most important species. These diseases are commonly associated with travel to tropical and subtropical countries, but diseases such as leishmaniasis are frequently seen in southern Spain and France. It should also be noted that climate change is altering the geographical distribution of many parasitic diseases. 

Antimony (Sb) compounds have been known since ancient Egyptian times and were used as cosmetics by the women of that era. In the sixteenth century, Sb preparations were thought to be wonder drugs and in the nineteenth century were prescribed for a number of conditions. Antimony compounds are used today as the standard treatment against parasitic diseases, such as leishmaniasis, schistosomiasis, and bilharziasis. ... 

The penultimate step in drug development is the testing of the drug candidate in animal models of disease, where all the complex interactions that underlie pathophysiological mechanisms take place. It is important that animal models not only manifest the relevant disease phenotype observed in humans, but that the underlying innate and adaptive immune responses are similar to the human disease. In the case of leishmaniasis, there are reasonably good animal models for some, but not all of the cutaneous forms. The animal models for visceral leishmaniasis are less satisfaaory. Nonetheless, the animal models for leishmaniasis are considerably better than those for other parasitic diseases. 

Allopurinol Metabolism In Man - There are scattered reports of the use of allopurinol at doses of 900 mg ( 12 mg/kg) per day or higher (Sweetman, 1968 Rundles, 1966). The proposed use of high doses of allopurinol to improve the chemotherapeutic index of 5-fluorouracil (Schwartz, 1980) and also to treat the parasitic disease, leishmaniasis, gave impetus to the present metabolic study. 

In the United States, the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health offer grants for parasitological research. In 2006, the National Institutes of Health awarded Yale University researchers 5.4 million to study cutaneous leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease spread by female sand flies. A variety of private organizations also support parasitology research. In 2009, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced a series of seventy-six 100,000 grants aimed at combating some of the m or issues in society, at least one of which was slated for research into malaria prevention. 

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