Drug repurposing strategy against Trypanosoma cruzi infection: In vitro and in vivo assessment of the activity of metronidazole in mono- and combined therapy.

Autor: Simões-Silva MR; Laboratório de Biologia Celular do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil., De Araújo JS; Laboratório de Biologia Celular do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil., Oliveira GM; Laboratório de Biologia Celular do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil., Demarque KC; Laboratório de Biologia Celular do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil., Peres RB; Laboratório de Biologia Celular do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil., D'Almeida-Melo I; Laboratório de Biologia Celular do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil., Batista DGJ; Laboratório de Biologia Celular do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil., Da Silva CF; Laboratório de Biologia Celular do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil., Cardoso-Santos C; Laboratório de Biologia Celular do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil., Da Silva PB; Laboratório de Biologia Celular do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil., Batista MM; Laboratório de Biologia Celular do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil., Bahia MT; Laboratório de Doenças Parasitárias, Escola de Medicina & Núcleo de Pesquisas em Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil., Soeiro MNC; Laboratório de Biologia Celular do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Electronic address: soeiro@ioc.fiocruz.br.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Biochemical pharmacology [Biochem Pharmacol] 2017 Dec 01; Vol. 145, pp. 46-53. Date of Electronic Publication: 2017 Sep 07.
DOI: 10.1016/j.bcp.2017.08.025
Abstrakt: Metronidazole (Mtz) is a commercial broad-spectrum nitroimidazolic derivative with relevant antimicrobial activity and relative safety profile. Therefore, it is fair to consider Mtz a candidate for drug repurposing for other neglected conditions such as Chagas disease (CD), a parasitic pathology caused by Trypanosoma cruzi. CD is treated only with benznidazole (Bz) and nifurtimox, both introduced in clinics decades ago despite important limitations, including low efficacy on the later disease stage (chronic form) and severe side effects. New cheap and fast alternative treatments for CD are needed, thus the repurposing of Mtz was assessed in vitro and in vivo in mono- and combined therapy. In vitro assays demonstrated EC 50 >200µM for Mtz, while for Bz the values ranged from 2.51µM (intracellular forms) to 11.5µM (bloodstream trypomastigotes). When both drugs were combined in fixed-ratio proportions, Mtz promoted Bz potency (lower EC 50 values). In vivo toxicity assays for Mtz in mice showed no adverse effects neither histopathological alterations up to 2000mg/kg. Regarding experimental T. cruzi infection, Bz 100mg/kg suppressed parasitemia while Mtz (up to 1000mg/kg) in monotherapy did not, but prolonged animal survival at 250 and 500 regimen doses. The combination of both drugs (Bz 10+Mtz 250) prevented mortality (70%) besides protected against electric cardiac alterations triggered by the parasite infection. Although not able to reduce parasite load, the combination therapy prevented animal mortality; this was possibly due to a protection of the electric cardiac physiology that is normally altered in experimental infection of T. cruzi. It also suggested that the interaction with Mtz could have improved the pharmacokinetics of Bz. Our study emphasizes the importance of drug repurposing and combined therapy for CD to contribute to alternative therapies for this neglected and silent pathology.
(Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE