Broadening the spectrum of Ivermectin: evidences of its effect on epimastigotes of Trypanosoma cruzi

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

Mar del Plata

Congreso; Reunión Anual de Sociedades de Biociencias; 2019

SAP, SAB, SAFE, SAIC

Chagas disease is an endemic parasitosis originally from Latin America, caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi). The current therapies are limited in efficacy and show multiple side effects. Thus, there is a need to identify new effective and specific trypanocidal strategies. Ivermectin (IVN) is a broad-spectrum antiparasitic drug of human and veterinary use. It is used for both ecto- and endo-parasite treatments and presents low toxicity in humans. These factors, along with its relative low cost, make IVN an interesting drug candidate for Chagas disease treatment. In previous studies, IVN has shown an effect against T. brucei and Leishmania in animal infection models. Beginning our evaluation of IVN as a potential trypanocidal drug, the aim of this work was to analyze the effects of IVN on T. cruzi epimastigotes and other trypanosomatids proliferation and viability. To approach this aim, we performed growth curves of epimastigotes of the Y-GFP strain in the presence of IVN (0 - 200 µM). The cultures were evaluated both by cell counting in Neubauer chamber and optical density at 630 nm for 8 days. IVN dose dependently reduced the proliferation of the parasites. The relative density and the viability (assessed by MTT) significantly decreased while duplication time increased at day 4 of culture. The IC50 calculated at day 4 of culture was 12.53 µM (10.83 - 14.49 µM). In related trypanosomatids, preliminary results showed that IVN affected the proliferation of Phytomonas Jma while it did not affect to Crithidias. In Phytomonas the estimated IC50 was 5.5 µM. The results presented herein showed that IVN affects the proliferation and viability of T. cruzi epimastigotes suggesting that Ivermectin could be a potentially viable drug to study in the Chagas disease context.