Repurposing drugs to fast-track therapeutic agents for the treatment of cryptococcosis.

ABSTRACT: Many infectious diseases disproportionately affect people in the developing world. Cryptococcal meningitis is one of the most common mycoses in HIV-AIDS patients, with the highest burden of disease in sub-Saharan Africa. Current best treatment regimens still result in unacceptably high mortality rates, and more effective antifungal agents are needed urgently. Drug development is hampered by the difficulty of developing effective antifungal agents that are not also toxic to human cells, and by a reluctance among pharmaceutical companies to invest in drugs that cannot guarantee a high financial return. Drug repurposing, where existing drugs are screened for alternative activities, is becoming an attractive approach in antimicrobial discovery programs, and various compound libraries are now c

SUBMITTER: Truong M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5937474 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature