Title:Novel Therapeutic Options for Chagas Disease Based on Bioactive Compounds from Algae, Bacteria and Fungi Species
Volume: 28
Issue: 36
Author(s): Marcos Vinicius da Silva*, Brenna Louise Cavalcanti Gondim, Tamires Marielem de Carvalho-Costa, Maria Tays Mendes, Marcela Rezende Lemes, Rafaela Miranda Barbosa, Talita Nunes Cardoso, Natália Santos Nascimento, Daniela Bomfim Barros, Márcia Vanusa da Silva, Juliana Reis Machado and Lúcio Roberto Cançado Castellano
Affiliation:
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, Federal University of Triângulo Mineiro, Uberaba, Minas Gerais,Brazil
Keywords:
Chagas disease, trypanosoma cruzi, virulence factors, therapeutics, algal proteins, fungal proteins.
Abstract: Chagas Disease, also known as American trypanosomiasis, is a Neglected Tropical
Disease that affects around seven million people, especially in Latin America. Noteworthy,
there has been an increase in the numbers of case reports in non-endemic areas, such as
North America, Europe, Japan, and Australia. The disease is a vector-borne disease caused
by the pathogen Trypanosoma cruzi being transmitted by infected bugs. It is known that
about forty percent of infected patients develop cardiac, digestive, or neurological alterations.
There are only two drugs currently used for treatment, benznidazole and nifurtimox. However,
both therapeutic regimens present several limitations, such as toxicity, mutagenicity and
low efficiency during the chronic phase. Some reports in the literature point to the occurrence
of parasite resistance. To overcome these limitations, the bioprospection of novel molecules
as alternatives is one of the major goals to improve therapeutic success in this chronic
disease. Bioprospecting active metabolites from natural resources might bring new hopes for
disease control and parasite elimination. Here we summarize the most recent advances to
identify and test Algae, Bacteria and Fungi-derived bioactive compounds with trypanocidal
activity using experimental models, in vitro testing and in silico approaches.
