Leishmania is a digenetic protozoan parasite causing leishmaniasis in humans. The different clinical forms of leishmaniasis are caused by more than twenty species of Leishmania that are transmitted by nearly thirty species of phlebotomine sand flies. Pentavalent antimonials (such as Pentostam or Glucantime) are the first line drugs for treating leishmaniasis. Recent studies suggest that pentava...

Reevaluation of treatment guidelines for Old and New World leishmaniasis is urgently needed on a global basis because treatment failure is an increasing problem. Drug resistance is a fundamental determinant of treatment failure, although other factors also contribute to this phenomenon, including the global HIV/AIDS epidemic with its accompanying impact on the immune system. Pentavalent antimon...

Introduction Passive case detection and treatment constitute the principal and often the sole measure of control for dermal leishmaniasis in Central and South America yet pentavalent antimonials, the first line therapy, are often ineffective. Treatment failure is frequent and concerning in the management of cutaneous leishmaniasis in South America. Overall non-response is of the order of 24% ba...

P-glycoproteins are responsible for multidrug resistance in tumor cell lines and are thought to have a physiologic role in exporting cellular metabolites. We now report that a P-glycoprotein gene in the H region of the trypanosomatid protozoan Leishmania confers resistance to heavy metals when present in multiple copies. The Leishmania H region is frequently amplified in drug-resistant lines an...

Leishmania braziliensis is the main etiologic agent of leishmaniasis in South America. A 9-year-old boy consulted for the presence of round, ulcerative lesions with raised borders that were painful and have appeared after a travel to Bolivia and Brazil. The culture for parasites showed leishmanias and the PCR was positive for L. braziliensis. The patient underwent treatment with itraconazol but...

INTRODUCTION Pentavalent antimonials are the first drug of choice in the treatment of tegumentary leishmaniasis. Data on ototoxicity related with such drugs is scarcely available in literature, leading us to develop a study on cochleovestibular functions. CASE REPORT A case of a tegumentary leishmaniasis patient, a 78-year-old man who presented a substantial increase in auditory threshold wit...

Parenteral pentavalent antimonials remain the standard therapy for cutaneous leishmaniasis. More effective and patient-compliant topical treatments are an important alternative treatment for the localized self-limiting forms of this disease. Two paromomycin ointments are commercially available but their use is limited by either toxicity or lack of efficacy. Other topical formulations have been ...

Leishmaniasis is caused by an intracellular parasite transmitted to humans by the bite of a sand fly. It is endemic in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and the Mediterranean region. Worldwide, 1.5 to 2 million new cases occur each year, 350 million are at risk of acquiring the disease, and leishmaniasis causes 70,000 deaths per year. Clinical features depend on the species of Leishmania involved and...

BACKGROUND Pentavalent antimonials have been the mainstay of antileishmanial therapy for decades, but increasing failure rates under antimonial treatment have challenged further use of these drugs in the Indian subcontinent. Experimental evidence has suggested that parasites which are resistant against antimonials have superior survival skills than sensitive ones even in the absence of antimoni...