Progress in the pharmacological treatment of human cystic and alveolar echinococcosis: Compounds and therapeutic targets.

ABSTRACT: Human cystic and alveolar echinococcosis are helmintic zoonotic diseases caused by infections with the larval stages of the cestode parasites Echinococcus granulosus and E. multilocularis, respectively. Both diseases are progressive and chronic, and often fatal if left unattended for E. multilocularis. As a treatment approach, chemotherapy against these orphan and neglected diseases has been available for more than 40 years. However, drug options were limited to the benzimidazoles albendazole and mebendazole, the only chemical compounds currently licensed for treatment in humans. To compensate this therapeutic shortfall, new treatment alternatives are urgently needed, including the identification, development, and assessment of novel compound classes and drug targets. Here is presented a t

SUBMITTER: Siles-Lucas M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5931691 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature