Use of clomipramine as chemotherapy of the chronic phase of Chagas disease

FAURO R; LO PRESTI MS; BAZAN C; BAEZ AL; STRAUSS M; TRIQUELL MF; CREMONEZZI D; SANCHEZ NEGRETE O; CAMINO G; PAGLINI PA; RIVAROLA HW

PARASITOLOGY

CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS

Lugar: Cambridge; Año: 2013 p. 917 - 927

0031-1820

Chagas infection is a major endemic disease affecting Latin American countries. The persistence of Trypanosoma cruzi generates a chronic inflammatory reactivity that induces an immune response directed to the host?s tissues. The effectiveness of the treatment in the chronic phase is still unsatisfactory due, amongst other reasons, to the collateral effects of the drugs used. We investigated the effect of clomipramine, a tricyclic antidepressant that, when used as a treatment of T. cruzichronically infected mice, inhibits trypanothione reductase, an exclusive and vital enzyme of T. cruzi. Clomipramine improved survival (P