Fexinidazole results in specific effects on DNA synthesis and DNA damage in the African trypanosome.

ABSTRACT: Nitroaromatic drugs are of critical importance for the treatment of trypanosome infections in Africa and the Americas. Fexinidazole recently joined benznidazole and nifurtimox in this family when it was approved as the first oral monotherapy against Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT). Nitroaromatic prodrugs are bioactivated by the trypanosome-specific type I nitroreductase (NTR) that renders the compounds trypanocidal. The trypanocidal activity of nitroaromatic drugs has been proposed to arise from the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and DNA damage. However, the specific cytotoxic effects of nitroaromatic drugs had not been thoroughly interrogated. Here we evaluate and compare the effects of clinically relevant anti-trypanosome nitroaromatic drugs using cell biology phenotypes

SUBMITTER: Berg KE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12574827 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature