Trypanothione reductase (TR) and trypanothione synthase (TS) are critical for the maintenance of thiol-redox homeostasis and antioxidant protection in trypanosomal parasites, which cause African sleeping sickness and Chagas disease. Both enzymes are absent in mammals. Thus, the design of efficient and specific TR and TS inhibitors represents one of the pathways for a development of new antitrypanosomal drugs. 5-Vinylquinoline-substituted nitrofurans (n = 7), studied in this work, acted as un- or noncompetitive to trypanothione inhibitors of Trypanosoma congolense TR. Their inhibition constants (Ki) varied from 2.3 µM to 150 µM. We for the first time observed a parallelism between their antitrypanosomal in vitro activity and their efficacy as TR inhibitors. The inhibition of TS appears not to be a significant factor of trypanocidal activity of examined compounds.
Trypanosuppressive effects of Kolaviron may be associated with down regulation of Trypanothione reductase in Trypanosoma congolense infection
