Leishmaniasis and malaria are serious public health problems in tropical and sub-tropical regions worldwide. Development of drug-resistant strains has disrupted efforts to control the spread of these diseases in the world. The conventional antiparasitic chemotherapy still suffers from side effects and drug resistance. Therefore, the development of novel antimalarial and leishmanicidal drugs rem...

phytochemical investigation of a dichloromethane-methanol (1:1) extract of the fruit pericarp of omphalocarpum procerum which exhibited antiplasmodial activity during preliminary screening led to the isolation of the new fatty ester triterpenoid 3β-hexadecanoyloxy-28-hydroxyolean-12-en-11-one (1), together with five known compounds 2-6. the structure of the new compound as well as those of the ...

Acute therapy with pyrimethamine plus sulfadiazine is the treatment of choice for reactivated toxoplasmic encephalitis (TE). Acute therapy is followed by lifelong maintenance therapy (secondary prophylaxis) with the same drugs at lower dosages. The use of pyrimethamine plus sulfadiazine is hampered by severe side effects including allergic reactions and hematotoxicity. Alternative treatment reg...

The treatment and prevention of parasitism in both humans and livestock continues to rely almost exclusively on the use of antiparasitic drugs - an approach which has limitations, particularly as reinfection, which occurs rapidly in endemic regions, is not prevented. In addition, the widespread appearance of drug-resistant parasites of animals (Kaplan, 2004;) together with emerging evidence of ...

Trypanosomes and leishmania are the causative agents of African sleeping sickness (Trypanosoma brucei), South American Chagas’ disease (T. cruzi) and other tropical diseases. All these parasitic protozoa have a unique thiol metabolism. Instead of the ubiquitous glutathione, the main non-protein thiol is trypanothione [bis(glutathionyl)spermidine] which is kept reduced by the flavoenzyme trypano...

From 53 samples of human faeces containing Giardia lamblia cysts, 18 isolates were successfully excysted in vitro, and cultivated axenically in TYI-S-33 modified medium. The in vitro effects of metronidazole and albendazole on these isolates were evaluated by the trophozoite adherence inhibition method. The IC50 was between 2.4 and 11.5 micro M for metronidazole and 0.027 and 0.192 micro M for ...

Polyphenolic and Terpenoids are potent natural antiparasitic compounds. This study aimed to identify new drug against Leishmania parasites, leishmaniasis’s causal agent. A in silico analysis was accomplished using molecular docking, with the Autodock vina program, find binding affinity of two important phytochemical compounds, Masticadienonic acid 3-Methoxycarpachromene, towards trypanothione r...

The antileishmanial efficacy of four novel quinoline derivatives was determined in vitro against Leishmania chagasi, using extracellular and intracellular parasite models. When tested against L. chagasi-infected macrophages, compound 3b demonstrated 8.3-fold greater activity than did the standard pentavalent antimony. No significant activity was found for compounds 3a, 4a, and 4b. The antilesih...