Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense

FIGURE 1 Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense, one of several trypanosomes known to cause African sleeping sickness. 

Yarlett, N., Goldberg, B., Nathan, H. C., Garofalo, J. and Bacchi, C. J. (1991) Differential sensitivity of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense isolates to in vitro lysis by arsenicals. Exp. Parasitol. 12 205-215. 

Bitonti, A. J., Byers, T. L., Bush, P. J. et al. (1990) Cure of Trypanosoma brucei brucei and Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense infections in mice with an irreversible inhibitor of S-adenosylmethionione. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 34, 1485-1490. 

Venkatesan, S. and Ormerod, W. E. (1976) Lipid content of the slender and stumpy forms of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense. a comparative study. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 53B 481-487. 

Brickman, M. J. and Balber, A. E. (1993) Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense membrane glycoproteins localized primarily in endosomes and lysosomes of bloodstream forms. Exp. Parasitol. 76 329-344. 

First introduced as a therapy for trypanosomiasis in 1937, pentamidine is now used in a variety of protozoal and fungal infections and, as such, finds use in the treatment of trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis, and pneumocystis (PCP). The drug is primarily used for treatment of PCP. When used for trypanosomiasis, pentamidine is only effective against Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense (east African sleeping sickness) and, even then, only during the early stage of the disease, because the drug does not readily cross the blood-brain barrier. 

Suramin is the drug of choice for the early hemolymphatic stage of both Trypanosoma brucei gambiense and Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense infections before nervous system invasion occurs [17 ]. The dose is 15-20 mg/kg/week, given intravenously, up to a maximum single dose of 1 g. Suramin, which is excreted by the kidneys, binds to plasma proteins and can persist in the circulation in low concentrations for as long as 3 months. A single course for an adult is usually 5 g, never to exceed 7 g. The primary adverse reactions are fever, rash, conjunctivitis, renal insufficiency, abdominal pain, paresthesia, and muscle pain. 

Mishina, Y.V. et al. (2007) Artemisinins inhibit Trypanosoma cruzi and Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense in vitro growth. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 51, 1852-1854... 

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