Review
Medicine, General & Internal
Ganesh Yadagiri, Aakriti Singh, Kanika Arora, Shyam Lal Mudavath
Summary: Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a vector-borne disease caused by an intracellular parasite of the genus Leishmania. It is a deadly disease with high fatality in tropical regions, and the lack of vaccines, inadequate vector control measures, and the rise of drug-resistant parasites and HIV-VL co-infections make it difficult to treat and control. Therefore, the development of safe and effective therapies, such as immunotherapy, is urgently needed.
FRONTIERS IN MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Lindsay B. Tulloch, Sandra Carvalho, Marta Lima, Richard J. Wall, Michele Tinti, Erika G. Pinto, Lorna MacLean, Susan Wyllie
Summary: A scalable resistance library screen (RES-Seq) has been developed to identify and prioritize anti-leishmanial compounds with novel mechanisms of actions. By screening against a panel of resistant cell lines, cross-resistance and shared mechanisms of action can be determined. Introducing DNA barcodes and using Illumina sequencing enables tracking of growth kinetics and relative fitness of multiple cell lines under compound selection.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Surendra Rajit Prasad, Prakash Kumar, Saptarshi Mandal, Anu Mohan, Radhika Chaurasia, Ashish Shrivastava, Pallaprolu Nikhil, Dande Aishwarya, P. Ramalingam, Rahul Gajbhiye, Shriya Singh, Arunava Dasgupta, Mukesh Chourasia, V. Ravichandiran, Prolay Das, Debabrata Mandal
Summary: In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of different types of saturated medium-chain fatty acids against Leishmania. We found that caprylic acid (CA) showed the most potent anti-leishmanial effect. Further investigation revealed that CA mediates cell death by depleting ergosterol through inhibiting the enzyme mevalonate kinase (MevK) in the ergosterol biosynthesis pathway. This study provides insights into the mechanism of CA against visceral leishmaniasis.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Valter Viana Andrade-Neto, Juliana da Silva Pacheco, Job Domingos Inacio, Elmo Eduardo Almeida-Amaral, Eduardo Caio Torres-Santos, Edezio Ferreira Cunha-Junior
Summary: Translation studies involving drug reuse and combination therapies can lead to higher success rates in drug development, as evidenced by the promising results of spironolactone in treating leishmaniasis. Further research is needed to explore the potential benefits of combining spironolactone with meglumine antimoniate for improved parasite load control.
FRONTIERS IN PHARMACOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Guilherme S. Ramos, Virginia M. R. Vallejos, Marina S. Ladeira, Priscila G. Reis, Daniel M. Souza, Yuri A. Machado, Luiz O. Ladeira, Mauricio B. Pinheiro, Maria N. Melo, Ricardo T. Fujiwara, Frederic Frezard
Summary: The study found that fullerol has potential anti-leishmanial activity, especially when combined with liposomes, showing significant reduction in parasite load. This innovative approach provides a new potential method for treating VL.
BIOMEDICINE & PHARMACOTHERAPY
(2021)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Ankita Rani, Shilpika Khanikar, Mukul Dutta, Shivani Katiyar, Tooba Qamar, Anuradha Seth, P. K. Agnihotri, Rajdeep Guha, Jai N. Vishwakarma, Susanta Kar
Summary: Compound 3D-mediated inhibition of L. donovani mitochondrial complex induces apoptosis, showing potential therapeutic activity against visceral leishmaniasis.
JOURNAL OF ANTIMICROBIAL CHEMOTHERAPY
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Adam J. Roberts, Han B. Ong, Simon Clare, Cordelia Brandt, Katherine Harcourt, Susanne U. Franssen, James A. Cotton, Nicole Mueller-Sienerth, Gavin J. Wright
Summary: This study aims to discover essential proteins for in vitro growth and host infection of Leishmania spp., with the goal of identifying subunit vaccine candidates. Through in silico analysis and genome editing, potential subunit vaccine candidates have been identified. Preclinical trials in a murine model showed significant levels of protection against splenic infection.
Review
Immunology
Patricia Sampaio Tavares Veras, Maria Borges Rabelo de Santana, Claudia Ida Brodskyn, Deborah Bittencourt Mothe Fraga, Manuela Silva Solca, Juliana Perrone Bezerra De Menezes, Bruna Martins Macedo Leite, Helena Mariana Pitangueira Teixeira
Summary: Leishmaniasis is a widespread group of infectious diseases that significantly impact global health. The causative agents are protozoan parasites that give rise to various clinical manifestations. Visceral leishmaniasis is the most severe form and can be life-threatening if left untreated.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR AND INFECTION MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Marco Antonio Cabrera Gonzalez, Ana Alice Maia Goncalves, Jennifer Ottino, Jaqueline Costa Leite, Lucilene Aparecida Resende, Otoni Alves Melo-Junior, Patricia Silveira, Mariana Santos Cardoso, Ricardo Toshio Fujiwara, Lilian Lacerda Bueno, Renato Lima Santos, Tatiane Furtado de Carvalho, Giani Martins Garcia, Paulo Ricardo de Oliveira Paes, Alexsandro Sobreira Galdino, Miguel Angel Chavez-Fumagalli, Marilia Martins Melo, Denise Silveira-Lemos, Olindo Assis Martins-Filho, Walderez Ornelas Dutra, Vanessa Carla Furtado Mosqueira, Rodolfo Cordeiro Giunchetti
Summary: Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a fatal disease caused by Leishmania infantum, and dogs are the main reservoirs. A vaccine against canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) is important in controlling human and CVL infections by reducing L. infantum infection. This study evaluated the potential of two polymeric nanoformulations loaded with Leishmania amazonensis antigens as a VL vaccine using golden hamsters as a model. The results showed that the vaccines had no adverse reactions and significantly reduced the parasitic load in the liver and spleen. These vaccines may be promising candidates for a VL vaccine.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Renata Rocha da Silva, Fernanda de Santana Fontes Vasconcelos, Debora dos Santos Tavares, Priscila Lima dos Santos
Summary: This study conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the association between IL-10 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and the progression of leishmaniasis. The results showed that IL-10 SNPs were not significantly associated with leishmaniasis progression and were not considered a risk factor.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Review
Infectious Diseases
Om Prakash Singh, Shyam Sundar
Summary: As of 2021, the visceral leishmaniasis (VL) elimination program has achieved success in reducing VL rates in many areas, but there are still challenges to address. Effective strategies are needed to ensure the elimination of VL as a public health problem.
EXPERT REVIEW OF ANTI-INFECTIVE THERAPY
(2022)
Article
Parasitology
Nibedeeta Rani Sarraf, Saikat Mukhopadhyay, Anindyajit Banerjee, Anjan Kumar Das, Syamal Roy, Saikat Chakrabarti, Madhumita Manna, Partha Saha
Summary: The study conducted whole genome sequencing of L. donovani strains from Indian patients, revealing unique genomic variations in 24 genes among para-KDL strains compared to other strains. These distinctive genomic changes among para-KDL strains could be significant for the parasites to become dermatotropic.
Article
Microbiology
Joao Carlos Franca-Silva, Rodolfo Cordeiro Giunchetti, Reysla Maria da Silveira Mariano, George Luiz Lins Machado-Coelho, Luciana de Almeida Silva Teixeira, Ricardo Andrade Barata, Erika Monteiro Michalsky, Marilia Fonseca Rocha, Consuelo Latorre Fortes-Dias, Edelberto Santos Dias
Summary: This study evaluated the impact of canine euthanasia on the incidence of visceral leishmaniasis in humans and canines. The findings showed that screening and culling measures for canines can reduce the incidence of the disease in both humans and canines.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Santhi John Tharakan, Dincy C. Peter, Rajiv Karthik, Vedantam Rupa, Winsley Rose, Meera Thomas, Malathi Manuel, Priscilla Rupali, Susanne Pulimood, Sitara Swarna Rao Ajjampur
Summary: This study reports on 52 suspected cases of cutaneous and mucosal leishmaniasis in a tertiary care setting in southern India from 2008 to 2018. Of the 12 confirmed cases, seven had mucocutaneous leishmaniasis, two had cutaneous leishmaniasis, and three had post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis. The emerging trend of atypical MCL caused by L. donovani variants highlights the importance of a high index of suspicion combined with PCR-based diagnostics for accurate diagnosis of different manifestations of leishmaniasis.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE AND HYGIENE
(2021)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Debora Faria Silva, Levi Eduardo Soares Reis, Marina Guimaraes Carvalho Machado, Douglas Daniel Dophine, Vinicius Roberto de Andrade, Wanderson Geraldo de Lima, Margareth Spangler Andrade, Jose Mario Carneiro Vilela, Alexandre Barbosa Reis, Gwenaelle Pound-Lana, Simone Aparecida Rezende, Vanessa Carla Furtado Mosqueira
Summary: This study investigated the use of TMX-NC as an oral treatment strategy for human visceral leishmaniasis, demonstrating its anti-parasitic efficacy in animal models and showing great promise for future oral treatments.