Leu-M

In this "Critical Review" we made a historical introduction of drugs assayed against Chagas disease beginning in 1912 with the works of Mayer and Rocha Lima up to the experimental use of nitrofurazone. In the beginning of the 70s, nifurtimox and benznidazole were introduced for clinical treatment, but results showed a great variability and there is still a controversy about their use for chronic cases. After the introduction of these nitroheterocycles only a few compounds were assayed in chagasic patients. The great advances in vector control in the South Cone countries, and the demonstration of parasite in chronic patients indicated the urgency to discuss the etiologic treatment during this phase, reinforcing the need to find drugs with more efficacy and less toxicity. We also review potential targets in the parasite and present a survey about new classes of synthetic and natural compounds studied after 1992/1993, with which we intend to give to the reader a general view about experimental studies in the area of the chemotherapy of Chagas disease, complementing the previous papers of Brener (1979) and De Castro (1993).

/pdf/a-critical-review-on-chagas-disease-chemotherapy-q4jnt4690t.pdf

A critical review on Chagas disease chemotherapy.

Parasitic diseases remain a major public health problem affecting hundreds of millions of people, particularly in tropical developing countries. The limited availability and affordability of pharmaceutical medicines means that the majority of the world's population depends on traditional medical remedies, and it is estimated that some 20,000 species of higher plant are used medicinally throughout the world. Many well-known drugs listed in the modern pharmacopoeia have their origins in nature, including, for example, quinine from the bark of the Cinchona tree for the treatment of malaria, which has been followed by the subsequent development of the synthetic derivatives chloroquine, amodiaquine, primaquine and mefloquine. More recently, the wider recognition of the antimalarial activity of artemisinin from the herb Artemisia annua has led current research to focus on the development of a large number of synthetic and semisynthetic compounds, which are more active than artemisinin. There is an increasing awareness of the potential of natural products, which may lead to the development of much-needed new antiparasitic drugs. In this chapter, we have drawn together a comprehensive list of medicinal plants and other natural products that have been shown to have activity against human and, to a lesser extent, animal parasites. In addition, some of the opportunities and difficulties in working with natural products have been reviewed and discussed, including the problems involved with evaluating complex mixtures of compounds which may occur in extracts, problems associated with differentiating between general cytotoxicity and genuine antiparasitic activity, and the hope that new technologies will rapidly accelerate new drug discovery and development in this field. Nevertheless, the way forward for natural product medicines, including the conservation of recognized natural products and protection of general biodiversity, the discovery and development process, and the promotion and usage of existing remedies, presents some difficult challenges. Following an initiative by the World Health Organization in August 2000, there is now the opportunity to evaluate scientifically many more traditional medicines and other natural products in validated antiparasite and toxicity screens, which will help establish which substances have potential for new pharmaceutical products. The use of 'untested' traditional medicines will no doubt continue, and there is an urgent need to distinguish between the efficacious and safe products and the ineffective and/or unsafe products, particularly since many remedies are being more widely promoted in developing countries.

Antiparasitic properties of medicinal plants and other naturally occurring products.

An ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants used in Loja and Zamora-Chinchipe, Ecuador.

Ethnomedicines are used by hunters for themselves and their hunting dogs in Trinidad. Plants are used for snakebites, scorpion stings, for injuries and mange of dogs and to facilitate hunting success. Plants used include Piper hispidum, Pithecelobium unguis-cati, Bauhinia excisa, Bauhinia cumanensis, Cecropia peltata, Aframomum melegueta, Aristolochia rugosa, Aristolochia trilobata, Jatropha curcas, Jatropha gossypifolia, Nicotiana tabacum, Vernonia scorpioides, Petiveria alliacea, Renealmia alpinia, Justicia secunda, Phyllanthus urinaria,Phyllanthus niruri,Momordica charantia, Xiphidium caeruleum, Ottonia ovata, Lepianthes peltata, Capsicum frutescens, Costus scaber, Dendropanax arboreus, Siparuma guianensis, Syngonium podophyllum, Monstera dubia, Solanum species, Eclipta prostrata, Spiranthes acaulis, Croton gossypifolius, Barleria lupulina, Cola nitida, Acrocomia ierensis (tentative ID). Plant use is based on odour, and plant morphological characteristics and is embedded in a complex cultural context based on indigenous Amerindian beliefs. It is suggested that the medicinal plants exerted a physiological action on the hunter or his dog. Some of the plants mentioned contain chemicals that may explain the ethnomedicinal and ethnoveterinary use. For instance some of the plants influence the immune system or are effective against internal and external parasites. Plant baths may contribute to the health and well being of the hunting dogs.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1186%2F1472-6882-1-10.pdf

Medicinal and ethnoveterinary remedies of hunters in Trinidad.

Plants used in Guatemala for the treatment of protozoal infections. I. Screening of activity to bacteria, fungi and American trypanosomes of 13 native plants

Sonia González

Papers

Plants used in Guatemala for the treatment of protozoal infections. I. Screening of activity to bacteria, fungi and American trypanosomes of 13 native plants