Insights of antiparasitic activity of sodium diethyldithiocarbamate against different strains of Trypanosoma cruzi.

Chagas disease is caused by Trypanosoma cruzi and affects thousands of people. Drugs currently used in therapy are toxic and have therapeutic limitations. In addition, the genetic diversity of T. cruzi represents an important variable and challenge in treatment. Sodium diethyldithiocarbamate (DETC) is a compound with pharmacological versatility acting as metal chelators and ROS generation. Thus, the objective was to characterize the antiparasitic action of DETC against different strains and forms of T. cruzi and their mechanism. The different strains of T. cruzi were grown in LIT medium. To evaluate the antiparasitic activity of DETC, epimastigote and trypomastigote forms of T. cruzi were used by resazurin reduction methods and by counting. Different response patterns were obtained between the strains and an IC50 of DETC ranging from 9.44 ± 3,181 to 60.49 ± 7.62 µM. Cell cytotoxicity against 3T3 and RAW cell lines and evaluated by MTT, demonstrated that DETC in high concentration (2222.00 µM) presents low toxicity. Yet, DETC causes mitochondrial damage in T. cruzi, as well as disruption in parasite membrane. DETC has antiparasitic activity against different genotypes and forms of T. cruzi, therefore, representing a promising molecule as a drug for the treatment of Chagas disease.

In Vitro Antitumor Potential of Sulfated Polysaccharides from Seaweed Caulerpa cupressoides var. flabellata.

Seaweeds are important source of bioactive compounds, including sulfated polysaccharides (SP). Because of their structural heterogeneity, these compounds are promising sources of anticancer compounds. SP from brown and red seaweeds have shown antimelanoma activity in different in vitro and in vivo models. However, SP from green seaweed are still poorly evaluated. Therefore, SP were extracted from the green alga Caulerpa cupressoides var. flabellata, and their antiproliferative, anti-migratory, and inhibitory effect on melanin production on B16-F10 melanoma cells was evaluated. Cell assays, including flow cytometry, demonstrated that SP (100-1000 µg mL-1) are non-cytotoxic, do not induce apoptosis or necrosis, and do not interfere with cell cycle. However, SP (1000 µg mL-1) were found to significantly inhibit cell colony formation (80-90%), cell migration (40-75%), and melanin production (~ 20%). In summary, these results showed that SP inhibited important melanoma development events without cytotoxicity effects, suggesting that C. cupressoides may be an important source of SP with antitumor properties.

Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticle Employing Corn Cob Xylan as a Reducing Agent with Anti-Trypanosoma cruzi Activity.

BACKGROUND: Chagas disease, also known as American Trypanosomiasis, is caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi. It is occurring in Americas, including USA and Canada, and Europe and its current treatment involves the use of two drugs as follows: benznidazole (BNZ) and nifurtimox, which present high toxicity and low efficacy during the chronic phase of the disease, thus promoting the search for more effective therapeutic alternatives. Amongst them xylan, a bioactive polysaccharide, extracted from corn cob. METHODS: Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FITR), Raman spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), dynamic light scattering (DLS) have been used to characterize the silver-xylan nanoparticles (NX). Their cytotoxicity was evaluated with 3-bromo(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium (MTT) test. MTT and flow cytometry were used to ascertain the anti-Trypanosoma cruzi activity. RESULTS: UV-Vis spectroscopy gave plasmon resonance ranging between 400 and 450 nm while FITC and Raman spectroscopy proved nano interface functionalized with xylan. ICP-OES data showed NX with xylan (81%) and silver (19%). EDS showed NX consisting of carbon (59.4%), oxygen (26.2%) and silver (4.8%) main elements. Spherical NX of 55 nm average size has been depicted with SEM and AFM, while DLS showed 102 ± 1.7 nm NX. The NX displayed negligible cytotoxicity (2000 µg/mL). NX (100 µg/mL) was more effective, regardless of experiment time, in affecting the ability of parasites to reduce MTT than BZN (100 µg/mL). In addition, NX (100 µg/mL) induced death of 95% of parasites by necrosis. CONCLUSION: This is the first time silver nanoparticles are presented as an anti-Trypanosoma cruzi agent and the data point to the potential application of NX to new preclinical studies in vitro and in vivo.