Herbicides to curb human parasitic infections: in vitro and in vivo effects of trifluralin on the trypanosomatid protozoans.
Year: 1993
Type: article
Abstract: Leishmaniasis is a major tropical disease for which current chemotherapies, pentavalent antimonials, are inadequate and cause severe side effects. It has been reported that trifluralin, a microtubule-disrupting herbicide, is inhibitory to Leishmania amazonensis. In this study, the in vitro effect of trifluralin on different species of trypanosomatid protozoans was determined. In addition to L. amazonensis, trifluralin is effective against Leishmania major and Leishmania tropica, which cause cutaneous infections, Leishmania donovani, which causes visceral disease, Leishmania panamensis, which may cause mucocutaneous infection, and Trypanosoma brucei, an important human and veterinary pathogen. Moreover, most encouragingly, trifluralin is effective in vivo as a topical ointment against L. major and Leishmania mexicana murine cutaneous leishmaniasis. Thus, trifluralin is a promising lead drug for several related, prevalent tropical diseases: leishmaniasis, trypanosomiasis of animals, and, possibly, African trypanosomiasis in humans.
Authors: M M Chan, M Grogl, C C Chen, E J Bienen, D Fong
Institution: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1986768948