BROADENING THE SPECTRUM OF IVERMECTIN: EVIDENCES OF ITS EFFECT ON EPIMASTIGOTES OF T. CRUZI

MD, RUIZ; CLAUSI A; L. LAROCCA; DE PINO, V; CARRILLO C; L. FRACCAROLI,

Congreso; REUNIÓN ANUAL DE SOCIEDADES DE BIOCIENCIA 2019; 2019

Chagas disease is an endemic parasitosisoriginally from Latin America, caused by the protozoanTrypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi). The current therapies are limited inefficacy and show multiple side effects. Thus, there is a need toidentify new effective and specific trypanocidal strategies.Ivermectin (IVN) is a broad-spectrum antiparasitic drug ofhuman and veterinary use. It is used for both ecto- and endoparasite treatments and presents low toxicity in humans. Thesefactors, along with its relative low cost, make IVN an interestingdrug candidate for Chagas disease treatment. In previousstudies, IVN has shown an effect against T. brucei andLeishmania in animal infection models. Beginning our evaluationof IVN as a potential trypanocidal drug, the aim of this work wasto analyze the effects of IVN on T. cruzi epimastigotes and othertrypanosomatids proliferation and viability. To approach this aim,we performed growth curves of epimastigotes of the Y-GFP strainin the presence of IVN (0 - 200 µM). The cultures were evaluatedboth by cell counting in Neubauer chamber and optical density at630 nm for 8 days. IVN dose dependently reduced theproliferation of the parasites. The relative density and theviability (assessed by MTT) significantly decreased whileduplication time increased at day 4 of culture. The IC50calculated at day 4 of culture was 12.53 µM (10.83 - 14.49 µM).In related trypanosomatids, preliminary results showed that IVNaffected the proliferation of Phytomonas Jma, with an estimatedIC50 of 5.5 µM, while it did not affect to Crithidias fasciculata.The results presented herein showed that IVN affects theproliferation and viability of T. cruzi epimastigotes suggestingthat Ivermectin could be a potentially viable drug to study in theChagas disease context.