Drug repurposing strategy against Trypanosoma cruzi infection: In vitro and in vivo assessment of the activity of metronidazole in mono- and combined therapy
| Autor: | Camila Cardoso-Santos, Raiza Brandão Peres, D. G. J. Batista, C. F. Da Silva, J. S. De Araújo, M. R. Simões-Silva, Maria de Nazaré Correia Soeiro, P. B. Da Silva, I. D'Almeida-Melo, M. M. Batista, Gilkethyla Mexlayne de Oliveira, Kelly Cristina Demarque, M. T. Bahia |
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| Rok vydání: | 2017 |
| Předmět: |
0301 basic medicine
Combination therapy Trypanosoma cruzi 030106 microbiology Antiprotozoal Agents Parasitemia Pharmacology Biochemistry 03 medical and health sciences Mice Pharmacokinetics In vivo Metronidazole medicine Animal mortality Animals Chagas Disease Myocytes Cardiac Nifurtimox Cells Cultured biology Molecular Structure biology.organism_classification medicine.disease Benznidazole Nitroimidazoles Immunology Drug Therapy Combination medicine.drug |
| Zdroj: | Biochemical pharmacology. 145 |
| ISSN: | 1873-2968 |
| Popis: | 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 EC50>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 EC50 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. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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