Cytotoxic nucleosides and parasitic diseases: a new therapeutic approach

Tubercidin, a cytotoxic nucleoside derivative, has been effective in the treatment of murine schistosomiasis when coadministered with nucleoside transport inhibitors. The latter drugs, which include nucleoside derivatives and several vasodilators, selectively act on mammalian cells and not on parasites, thus providing host protection against the toxic action of tubercidin in the experimental animal.this combination-therapy principle should be applicable to other extracellular parasitic infections and may become clinically useful. The need for further studies dealing with selection of cytotoxic nucleosides and host-protecting nucleoside transport inhibitors with favorable pharmacokinetic properties is emphasized