Quimioterapia para la enfermedad de Chagas. Avances y perspectivas

RODRIGUEZ, JUAN BAUTISTA

Ciencia e Investigación

Asociación Argentina para el Progreso de las Ciencias

Lugar: Ciudad de Buenos Aires; Año: 2022 p. 48 - 58

1132-0974

Trypanosoma cruzi is the parasite responsible for American trypanosomiasis or Chagas disease, which is endemic from the southern United States to southern Argentina. This disease is a well-recognized opportunistic infection in AIDS patients. The number of people infected with T. cruzi declined from 18 million in 1991 to 6 million in 2010, but it remains the most prevalent parasitic disease in America. Current chemotherapy for Chagas disease remains deficient. The two drugs available for treatment, nifurtimox and benznidazole are associated with prolonged treatments with serious side effects. In addition, benznidazole is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States only for pediatric use; therefore, in that country, it is only available under CDC protocols. A useful molecular target for the identification of new molecules against trypanosomatids is the biosynthesis of isoprenoids. Enzymes involved in the synthesis of sterols and farnesyl diphosphate are considered as excellent molecular targets against pathogenic parasites. Based on this hypothesis, numerous compounds have been developed and evaluated as antiparasitic agents against T. cruzi. There are also other metabolic pathways that will be briefly treated.