Navigating drug repurposing for Chagas disease: advances, challenges, and opportunities

Frontiers in Pharmacology

Pharmacology

Exequiel O. J. Porta¹  Patrick G. Steel¹  Karunakaran Kalesh² 

[1] Department of Chemistry, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom;School of Health and Life Sciences, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, United Kingdom;National Horizons Centre, Darlington, United Kingdom;

关键词: Chagas disease;    combination therapy;    drug discovery;    drug repositioning;    drug repurposing;    neglected tropical diseases;    parasitic disease;    Trypanosoma cruzi;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fphar.2023.1233253

 received in 2023-06-01, accepted in 2023-07-18,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Chagas disease is a vector-borne illness caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi). It poses a significant public health burden, particularly in the poorest regions of Latin America. Currently, there is no available vaccine, and chemotherapy has been the traditional treatment for Chagas disease. However, the treatment options are limited to just two outdated medicines, nifurtimox and benznidazole, which have serious side effects and low efficacy, especially during the chronic phase of the disease. Collectively, this has led the World Health Organization to classify it as a neglected disease. To address this problem, new drug regimens are urgently needed. Drug repurposing, which involves the use of existing drugs already approved for the treatment of other diseases, represents an increasingly important option. This approach offers potential cost reduction in new drug discovery processes and can address pharmaceutical bottlenecks in the development of drugs for Chagas disease. In this review, we discuss the state-of-the-art of drug repurposing approaches, including combination therapy with existing drugs, to overcome the formidable challenges associated with treating Chagas disease. Organized by original therapeutic area, we describe significant recent advances, as well as the challenges in this field. In particular, we identify candidates that exhibit potential for heightened efficacy and reduced toxicity profiles with the ultimate objective of accelerating the development of new, safe, and effective treatments for Chagas disease.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Porta, Kalesh and Steel.