Essencial oil-based nanomedicines against trypanosomatides

MARIA JOSE MORILLA AND EDER LILIA ROMERO

Essencial oil-based and Nanotechnology for the cure of microbial diseases

CRC Press

Año: 2017;

Trypanosomatids are a diverse group of flagellated parasites that show similar cellular structures and undergo morphological alterations during their life cycles, which affect 20 million people and cause 100,000 deaths per year. Trypanosoma cruzi, 20 different leishmania species and Trypanosoma evasi cause the human diseases American trypanosomiasis (or Chagas disease), leishmaniasis, and the animal disease Surra, respectively. Current treatments of trypanosomiasis are ineffective, toxic, long, expensive and generates resistance. The use of essential oils and its components could be a therapeutic alterative against trypanosomatides. Their use, however is limited due to its physicochemical properties, such as poor aqueous solubility, high lipophilicity and potential chemical instability. Incorporation of EOs in nano-drug delivery systems not only could surpass these problems but also could target the compounds to the intracellular amastigotes, common to all trypanosomatides. In this chapter, we will discuss the outcome of incorporation of EOs and its components into nano-drug delivery systems against trypanosomatides.