Current scenario of drug development for leishmaniasis.

Although three new drugs or drug formulations, liposomal amphotericin B (AmBisome), miltefosine and paromomycin should be available for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) within the next year, they all suffer from limitations of either cost, specific toxicities or parenteral administration. As part of research to identify better treatments for VL and cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), alternative and potentially cheaper formulations of amphotericin B, alklyphosphocholines other than miltefosine and improved formulations of paromomycin for CL have been identified. Other drugs or compounds that have demonstrated activity in experimental rodent models of infection include licochalcone derivatives, quinoline derivatives, bisphosphonates and a maesabalide; further chemistry based upon these leads is warranted. The process for discovery and development of new antileishmanials would also benefit from improved models, for example, transfected parasites, and non invasive methods of measuring parasite load in rodent models of infection.

Emulsöes múltiplas A/O/A contendo paromomicina para tratamento tópico da leishmaniose cutânea: obtençäo, caracterizaçäo e estabilidade / W/O/W multiple emulsion with paromomycin to the topical treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis: achievement, characterization and stability

Os antimoniais pentavalentes são os fármacos de escolha para o tratamento da leishmaniose cutânea (LC). Entretanto, este tratamento é longo, requer doses repetidas, com graves efeitos adversos. Como um tratamento alternativo, a terapia local pode ser de valor, devido à sua segurança e simplicidade de administração. O sulfato de paromomicina (PA) tem sido testado em uma pomada na concentração de 15 por cento. Embora esse tratamento tenha mostrado resultados promissores, não tem sido eficaz em acelerar a recuperação em muitos dos casos. o objetivo deste estudo foi desenvolver uma emulsão múltipla A/O/A contendo PA para o tratamento tópico da LC...

Characterization and mapping of an informational suppressor in Aspergillus nidulans

The present work was undertaken to characterize a suppressor gene present in a mutant strain of A. nidulans obtained with NTG (N-Methyl-N'-Nitro-N-Nitrosoguanidine). Analyses of this mutant have shown that this suppressor, designated suO1, induces phenotypic co-reversion of several auxotrophic mutations and makes the strain sensitive to aminoglycoside antibiotics and lower temperatures. suO1 has shown to be on linkage group VIII. The vegetative growth of the mutant strain is very unstable because the suppressor gene induces the production of prototrophic mitotic sectors. The strains bearing the suO1 gene produce cleistothecia containing a reduced number of viable ascospores during the sexual cycle. The segregation of the genetic markers has also been observed in the mutant strain self crossed. From the above results it may be concluded that suO1 is an informational suppressor.