Synergy testing of FDA-approved drugs identifies potent drug combinations against Trypanosoma cruzi.

ABSTRACT: An estimated 8 million persons, mainly in Latin America, are infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic agent of Chagas disease. Existing antiparasitic drugs for Chagas disease have significant toxicities and suboptimal effectiveness, hence new therapeutic strategies need to be devised to address this neglected tropical disease. Due to the high research and development costs of bringing new chemical entities to the clinic, we and others have investigated the strategy of repurposing existing drugs for Chagas disease. Screens of FDA-approved drugs (described in this paper) have revealed a variety of chemical classes that have growth inhibitory activity against mammalian stage Trypanosoma cruzi parasites. Aside from azole antifungal drugs that have low or sub-nanomolar activity, most of t

SUBMITTER: Planer JD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4102417 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature