scholarly journals Quinine Sulphate Microparticles as Treatment for Leishmaniasis

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Grace Lovia Allotey-Babington ◽  
Seth Kwabena Amponsah ◽  
Thomas Nettey ◽  
Clement Sasu ◽  
Henry Nettey

Background. Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by the Leishmania parasite and transmitted by the female phlebotomine sandfly. The disease can affect the skin (least fatal) or internal organs (most fatal). Current treatment options for leishmaniasis have a number of adverse effects, and there appears to be resistance by the protozoan parasite (Leishmania spp.). Reports suggest that quinine sulphate, not indicated for leishmaniasis, is effective in killing the Leishmania parasite. Indeed, the efficacy of any drug is dependent on the concentration at the target site, which is also almost dependent on drug formulation. The current study assessed the pharmacokinetic profile of the microparticulate formulation of quinine sulphate and its in vitro and in vivo efficacy against Leishmania donovani. Methods. Quinine sulphate was encapsulated in bovine serum albumin by the spray-drying method. Quinine sulphate microparticles were evaluated for size, zeta potential, drug content, encapsulation efficiency, and in vitro release properties. Afterwards, the pharmacokinetic characteristics of quinine sulphate microparticles were estimated and in vivo efficacy studies were also conducted. Results. The size range of the quinine sulphate microparticles was between 2.0 and 5.0 µm. Microparticles had an average zeta potential of −35.2 mV and an encapsulation efficiency of 94.5%. Also, Cmax, t1/2, and AUC were all significantly desirable for quinine sulphate microparticles compared to the drug powder. Quinine sulphate microparticles significantly reduced parasite load in rat organs than amphotericin B. Conclusion. Overall, quinine sulphate microparticles had better pharmacokinetic profile and showed higher efficacy against Leishmania donovani parasites in vivo. Thus, quinine sulphate microparticles have the potential, especially, in treating visceral leishmaniasis.

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4-A) ◽  
pp. 425-437
Author(s):  
Khushboo Verma ◽  
Jhakeshwar Prasad ◽  
Suman Saha ◽  
Surabhi Sahu

The aim of this work was to develop and evaluate curcumin loaded liposome and its bio- enhancement. Curcumin was selected as a natural drug for liposome formulation. Curcumin show variety of biological activity but it also shows poor bioavailability due to low aqueous solubility (1 µg/ml), poor absorption and rapid metabolism so that piperine was selected as bio enhancer to improve curcumin bioavailability. Soy lecithin and cholesterol were used to prepared curcumin and curcumin-piperine loaded liposome at different ratio by thin film hydration method because of easy to perform, and high encapsulation rates of lipid. The all liposome formulations (F1-F5) were evaluated by mean particle size, polydispersity index, zeta potential, encapsulation efficiency and drug release. Bioavailability was also determined on rat. Blood samples were collected at specific intervals, and plasma was separated by ultracentrifugation. Plasma was analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography at 425 nm taking acetonitrile: water (75:25 v/v) acidified with 2% acetic acid as a mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.5 ml/min using C18 column. The mean particle size was found in the range between 800-1100 that indicate liposome are large unilamellar vesical types. By zeta potential study its conform that the all formulation was stable. The encapsulation efficiency of all liposome formulation are varied between 59-67%. In vitro drug release was analyse in 7.4 pH phosphate buffer, the maximum %CDR observed at the 12 hrs., and formulation are follow sustained release thus they reduce metabolism, good absorption rate which improve bioavailability of drug. From in-vivo study, it is clear that curcumin-piperine liposomal formulation, increases Cmax, area under the curve, and mean residence time significantly as compared to pure curcumin and pure curcumin liposome. Keywords: liposome; Curcumin; Piperine, Thin film hydration method; Bioavailability


Nanomedicine ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda de Fraga Dias ◽  
Danieli Rosane Dallemole ◽  
Franciele Aline Bruinsmann ◽  
Luiz Fernando Lopes Silva ◽  
Olga Cruz-López ◽  
...  

Aim: To develop and characterize bozepinib-loaded lipid-core nanocapsules (BZP-LNC+) as a potential treatment for glioblastoma (GBM). Methods: Characterization of nanocapsules was performed by diameter, polydispersity index, zeta potential, pH and encapsulation efficiency. GBM cell viability, cell cycle and Annexin/PI were evaluated after BZP-LNC+ treatment. Synergism between BZP-LNC+ and temozolomide (TMZ) was performed by CompuSyn software and confirmed in vitro and in vivo. Results: BZP-LNC+ showed adequate particle sizes, positive zeta potential, narrow size distribution and high encapsulation efficiency. BZP-LNC+ reduces GBM growth by inducing apoptosis. BZP-LNC+ and TMZ showed synergistic effect in vitro and reduced the in vivo glioma growth by approximately 81%. Conclusion: The present study provides proof-of-principle insights for the combination of these drugs for GBM treatment.


2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Maria Arenas Velásquez ◽  
Willian Campos Ribeiro ◽  
Vutey Venn ◽  
Silvia Castelli ◽  
Mariana Santoro de Camargo ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Leishmaniasis is a disease found throughout the (sub)tropical parts of the world caused by protozoan parasites of the Leishmania genus. Despite the numerous problems associated with existing treatments, pharmaceutical companies continue to neglect the development of better ones. The high toxicity of current drugs combined with emerging resistance makes the discovery of new therapeutic alternatives urgent. We report here the evaluation of a binuclear cyclopalladated complex containing Pd(II) and N,N′-dimethylbenzylamine (Hdmba) against Leishmania amazonensis. The compound [Pd(dmba)(μ-N3)]2 (CP2) inhibits promastigote growth (50% inhibitory concentration [IC50] = 13.2 ± 0.7 μM) and decreases the proliferation of intracellular amastigotes in in vitro incubated macrophages (IC50 = 10.2 ± 2.2 μM) without a cytotoxic effect when tested against peritoneal macrophages (50% cytotoxic concentration = 506.0 ± 10.7 μM). In addition, CP2 was also active against T. cruzi intracellular amastigotes (IC50 = 2.3 ± 0.5 μM, selective index = 225), an indication of its potential for use in Chagas disease therapy. In vivo assays using L. amazonensis-infected BALB/c showed an 80% reduction in parasite load compared to infected and nontreated animals. Also, compared to amphotericin B treatment, CP2 did not show any side effects, which was corroborated by the analysis of plasma levels of different hepatic and renal biomarkers. Furthermore, CP2 was able to inhibit Leishmania donovani topoisomerase 1B (Ldtopo1B), a potentially important target in this parasite. (This study has been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under identifier NCT02169141.)


2013 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 1714-1722 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shalini Asthana ◽  
Anil K. Jaiswal ◽  
Pramod K. Gupta ◽  
Vivek K. Pawar ◽  
Anuradha Dube ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTThe accessible treatment options for life-threatening neglected visceral leishmaniasis (VL) disease have problems with efficacy, stability, adverse effects, and cost, making treatment a complex issue. Here we formulated nanometric amphotericin B (AmB)-encapsulated chitosan nanocapsules (CNC-AmB) using a polymer deposition technique mediated by nanoemulsion template fabrication. CNC-AmB exhibited good steric stabilityin vitro, where the chitosan content was found to be efficient at preventing destabilization in the presence of protein and Ca2+. A toxicity study on the model cell line J774A and erythrocytes revealed that CNC-AmB was less toxic than commercialized AmB formulations such as Fungizone and AmBisome. The results ofin vitro(macrophage-amastigote system; 50% inhibitory concentration [IC50], 0.19 ± 0.04 μg AmB/ml) andin vivo(Leishmania donovani-infected hamsters; 86.1% ± 2.08% parasite inhibition) experiments in conjunction with effective internalization by macrophages illustrated the efficacy of CNC-AmB at augmenting antileishmanial properties. Quantitative mRNA analysis by real-time PCR (RT-PCR) showed that the improved effect was synergized with the upregulation of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-12 (IL-12), and inducible nitric oxide synthase and with the downregulation of transforming growth factor β (TGF-β), IL-10, and IL-4. These research findings suggest that a cost-effective CNC-AmB immunoadjuvant chemotherapeutic delivery system could be a viable alternative to the current high-cost commercial lipid-based formulations.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Schafer ◽  
David R Martinez ◽  
John J Won ◽  
Fernanado R Moreira ◽  
Ariane J Brown ◽  
...  

The COVID-19 pandemic remains uncontrolled despite the rapid rollout of safe and effective SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, underscoring the need to develop highly effective antivirals. In the setting of waning immunity from infection and vaccination, breakthrough infections are becoming increasingly common and treatment options remain limited. Additionally, the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern with their potential to escape therapeutic monoclonal antibodies emphasizes the need to develop second-generation oral antivirals targeting highly conserved viral proteins that can be rapidly deployed to outpatients. Here, we demonstrate the in vitro antiviral activity and in vivo therapeutic efficacy of GS-621763, an orally bioavailable prodrug of GS-441524, the parental nucleoside of remdesivir, which targets the highly conserved RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. GS-621763 exhibited significant antiviral activity in lung cell lines and two different human primary lung cell culture systems. The dose-proportional pharmacokinetic profile observed after oral administration of GS-621763 translated to dose-dependent antiviral activity in mice infected with SARS-CoV-2. Therapeutic GS-621763 significantly reduced viral load, lung pathology, and improved pulmonary function in COVID-19 mouse model. A direct comparison of GS-621763 with molnupiravir, an oral nucleoside analog antiviral currently in human clinical trial, proved both drugs to be similarly efficacious. These data demonstrate that therapy with oral prodrugs of remdesivir can significantly improve outcomes in SARS-CoV-2 infected mice. Thus, GS-621763 should be explored as a potential treatment for COVID-19 in humans.


Author(s):  
Rahat Ali ◽  
Shams Tabrez ◽  
Sajjadul Kadir Akand ◽  
Fazlur Rahman ◽  
Atahar Husein ◽  
...  

BackgroundVisceral leishmaniasis (VL), caused by the protozoan parasite Leishmania donovani (L. donovani), is the most severe form of leishmaniasis. It is largely responsible for significant morbidity and mortality in tropical and subtropical countries. Currently, available therapeutics have lots of limitations including high-cost, adverse side-effects, painful route of administration, less efficacy, and resistance. Therefore, it is time to search for cheap and effective antileishmanial agents. In the present work, we evaluated the antileishmanial potential of sesamol against promastigotes as well as intracellular amastigotes. Further, we tried to work out its mechanism of antileishmanial action on parasites through different assays.MethodologyIn vitro and ex vivo antileishmanial assays were performed to evaluate the antileishmanial potential of sesamol on L. donovani. Cytotoxicity was determined by MTT assay on human THP-1-derived macrophages. Sesamol-induced morphological and ultrastructural changes were determined by electron microscopy. H2DCFDA staining, JC-1dye staining, and MitoSOX red staining were performed for reactive oxygen assay (ROS), mitochondrial membrane potential, and mitochondrial superoxide, respectively. Annexin V/PI staining for apoptosis, TUNEL assay, and DNA laddering for studying sesamol-induced DNA fragmentation were performed.ConclusionsSesamol inhibited the growth and proliferation of L. donovani promastigotes in a dose-dependent manner. It also reduced the intracellular parasite load without causing significant toxicity on host-macrophages. Overall, it showed antileishmanial effects through induction of ROS, mitochondrial dysfunction, DNA fragmentation, cell cycle arrest, and apoptosis-like cell death to parasites. Our results suggested the possible use of sesamol for the treatment of leishmaniasis after further in vivo validations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 1117
Author(s):  
Humera Ahmed ◽  
Katharine C. Carter ◽  
Roderick A.M. Williams

Miltefosine (Milt) is the only oral treatment for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) but its use is associated with adverse effects, e.g., teratogenicity, vomiting, diarrhoea. Understanding how its chemical structure induces cytotoxicity, whilst not compromising its anti-parasitic efficacy, could identify more effective compounds. Therefore, we systemically modified the compound’s head, tail and linker tested the in vitro activity of three alkylphosphocholines (APC) series against Leishmania donovani strains with different sensitivities to antimony. The analogue, APC12, with an alkyl carbon chain of 12 atoms, was also tested for anti-leishmanial in vivo activity in a murine VL model. All APCs produced had anti-leishmanial activity in the micromolar range (IC50 and IC90, 0.46– > 82.21 µM and 4.14–739.89 µM; 0.01– > 8.02 µM and 0.09–72.18 µM, respectively, against promastigotes and intracellular amastigotes). The analogue, APC12 was the most active, was 4–10 fold more effective than the parent Milt molecule (APC16), irrespective of the strain’s sensitivity to antimony. Intravenous administration of 40 mg/kg APC12 to L. donovani infected BALB/c mice reduced liver and spleen parasite burdens by 60 ± 11% and 60 ± 19%, respectively, while oral administration reduced parasite load in the bone marrow by 54 ± 34%. These studies confirm that it is possible to alter the Milt structure and produce more active anti-leishmanial compounds.


Homeopathy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jyoti Joshi ◽  
Chetna Bandral ◽  
Raj Kumar Manchanda ◽  
Anil Khurana ◽  
Debadatta Nayak ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a neglected tropical disease that is fatal if treatment is not given. The available chemotherapeutic options are unsatisfactory, and so complementary therapies like homeopathy might be a promising approach. Methods A nosode from a pure axenic culture of Leishmania donovani was prepared and screened for its anti-leishmanial potential both in an in-vitro and an in-vivo experimental approach. Results Leishmania donovani amastigote promastigote nosode (LdAPN 30C) exhibited significant anti-leishmanial activity against the promastigote forms of Leishmania donovani and was found to be safe. A study conducted on VL-infected mice revealed that LdAPN 30C resolved the disease by modulating the host immune response toward the Th1 type through upregulating the pro-inflammatory cytokines (IFN-γ and IL-17) and inducing nitric oxide (NO) levels in the infected macrophages. The hepatic parasite load was also found to be significantly decreased. The nosode was found to be safe, as no histological alterations in the liver or kidney were observed in the animals treated with the LdAPN 30C. Conclusion This is the first study in which an axenic culture of Leishmania donovani has been used for the preparation of a homeopathic medication. The study highlights the anti-leishmanial and immunomodulatory potential of a homeopathic nosode in experimental VL.


2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Felipe Rodriguez ◽  
Sarah F. John ◽  
Eva Iniguez ◽  
Sebastian Montalvo ◽  
Karina Michael ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Leishmania major is the causative agent of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). No human vaccine is available for CL, and current drug regimens present several drawbacks, such as emerging resistance, severe toxicity, medium effectiveness, and/or high cost. Thus, the need for better treatment options against CL is a priority. In the present study, we validate the enzyme methionine aminopeptidase 1 of L. major (MetAP1Lm), a metalloprotease that catalyzes the removal of N-terminal methionine from peptides and proteins, as a chemotherapeutic target against CL infection. The in vitro antileishmanial activities of eight novel MetAP1 inhibitors (OJT001 to OJT008) were investigated. Three compounds, OJT006, OJT007, and OJT008, demonstrated potent antiproliferative effects in macrophages infected with L. major amastigotes and promastigotes at submicromolar concentrations, with no cytotoxicity against host cells. Importantly, the leishmanicidal effect in transgenic L. major promastigotes overexpressing MetAP1Lm was diminished by almost 10-fold in comparison to the effect in wild-type promastigotes. Furthermore, the in vivo activities of OJT006, OJT007, and OJT008 were investigated in L. major-infected BALB/c mice. In comparison to the footpad parasite load in the control group, OJT008 decreased the footpad parasite load significantly, by 86%, and exhibited no toxicity in treated mice. We propose MetAP1 inhibitor OJT008 as a potential chemotherapeutic candidate against CL infection caused by L. major infection.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 523-531
Author(s):  
Hina Mumtaz ◽  
Muhammad Asim Farooq ◽  
Zainab Batool ◽  
Anam Ahsan ◽  
Ashikujaman Syed

The main purpose of development pharmaceutical dosage form is to find out the in vivo and in vitro behavior of dosage form. This challenge is overcome by implementation of in-vivo and in-vitro correlation. Application of this technique is economical and time saving in dosage form development. It shortens the period of development dosage form as well as improves product quality. IVIVC reduce the experimental study on human because IVIVC involves the in vivo relevant media utilization in vitro specifications. The key goal of IVIVC is to serve as alternate for in vivo bioavailability studies and serve as justification for bio waivers. IVIVC follows the specifications and relevant quality control parameters that lead to improvement in pharmaceutical dosage form development in short period of time. Recently in-vivo in-vitro correlation (IVIVC) has found application to predict the pharmacokinetic behaviour of pharmaceutical preparations. It has emerged as a reliable tool to find the mode of absorption of several dosage forms. It is used to correlate the in-vitro dissolution with in vivo pharmacokinetic profile. IVIVC made use to predict the bioavailability of the drug of particular dosage form. IVIVC is satisfactory for the therapeutic release profile specifications of the formulation. IVIVC model has capability to predict plasma drug concentration from in vitro dissolution media.


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