The in vivo trypanocidal effect of the diterpene 5-epi-icetexone obtained from Salvia gilliesii

LOZANO, ESTEBAN; STRAUSS, MARIANA; SPINA, RENATA; CIFUENTE, DIEGO ; TONN CARLOS; RIVAROLA WALTER; SOSA MIGUEL

PARASITOLOGY INTERNATIONAL

ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2015 vol. 65 p. 23 - 26

1383-5769

The search for new compounds with trypanocidal activity is crucial for the treatment of Chagas? disease. Previous in vitro studies have shown that the diterpene 5-epi-icetexone (ICTX) is active against T. cruzi. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of ICTX on the parasites in infected mice, in an experimental model that mimics the acute phase of the disease. Swiss Albino mice were infected with T. cruzi and treated daily with 10 mg/kg/day ICTX (i.p.). Infected mice and injected with either saline or the vehicle DMSO were used as controls. Animal´s survival and parasitemia were monitored once a week andhistological studies were made at necropsy by the 5th week after infection. It was observed that the administration of ICTX increased survival of mice infected, and induced a significant decrease in the parasitemia, as compared to controls. A similar protective effect was observed when animals were treated orally with benznidazole (BZN, used as a control of antiparasitic effect). By the 5th week post-infection, the presence of amastigotes nests was observed within the fibers of the cardiac and skeletal muscle in controls, but not inanimals treated with either ICTX or BZN. In addition, inflammatory infiltrates were observed in the tissues of controls, but not in animals treated with the drugs. We conclude that ICTX has an antiparasitic effect against T. cruzi, thus constituting an interesting option for the treatment of Chagas? disease, alone or combined with other drugs.