PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

New drug candidates show promise for cure for Chagas disease

2013-12-27
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Jim Sliwa
jsliwa@asmusa.org
202-942-9297
American Society for Microbiology
New drug candidates show promise for cure for Chagas disease A team of researchers from Canada has developed a class of compounds which may help eradicate a neglected tropical disease that is currently hard to kill in its chronic form. The research was published ahead of print in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

Chagas disease or American trypanosomiasis, caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, affects about 18 million people living mostly in Latin America. The parasite is transmitted to humans by blood-sucking reduviid bugs, also known as kissing bugs due to their predilection for feeding on the faces of their victims. In the United States, Chagas disease is considered one of the neglected parasitic infections, a group of five parasitic diseases that have been targeted by CDC for public health action.

"While historically infection was largely confined to poor and rural populations in Central and South America, it has been emerging in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Japan, and Australia, due to immigration, and nonvectorial transmission is becoming a public health threat," says Deborah Nicoll-Griffith of the Merck Frosst Centre for Therapeutic Research in Kirkland, Quebec, a researcher on the study. One 2005 estimate put the number of people infected within the U.S. at 300,000 (1/1000).

There are two phases of Chagas disease: the acute phase and the chronic phase. Both phases can be symptom free or life threatening. Left untreated the disease can lead to cardiac and digestive disorders, as the parasite burrows into the heart, esophagus and colon tissue where it causes damage over time.

The current standard of care, the drug benznidazole, has significant activity against the parasite during the acute phase, but is less effective once the disease becomes chronic.

Efforts to find new drugs focus on disrupting an enzyme, cruzipain, which the parasite uses for digestion, to produce other cellular machinery, to evade the host's immune system, and to invade heart and gastrointestinal tissues.

Nicoll-Griffith and her colleagues identified two compounds known as reversible cysteine protease inhibitors that fit cruzipain like jigsaw puzzle pieces, jamming the enzyme. In the study, they tested the efficacy of the compounds in mice against that of benznidazole. While all treatment groups showed a marked reduction in parasite burden, in all tissues, the two experimental compounds had greater cure rates of acute infections (90% and 78%) compared to benznidazole (71%.)

"The efficacy shown in these T. cruzi murine studies suggests that nitrile-containing cruzipain inhibitors show promise as a viable approach for a safe and effective treatment of Chagas disease," write the researchers.

### A copy of the manuscript can be found online at http://bit.ly/asmtip1213e. The final version of the article is scheduled for the February 2014 issue of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy is a publication of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). The ASM is the largest single life science society, composed of over 39,000 scientists and health professionals. Its mission is to advance the microbiological sciences as a vehicle for understanding life processes and to apply and communicate this knowledge for the improvement of health and environmental and economic well-being worldwide.


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

What does compassion sound like?

2013-12-27
What does compassion sound like? "Good to see you. I'm sorry. It sounds like you've had a tough, tough, week." Spoken by a doctor to a cancer patient, that statement is an example of compassionate behavior observed by a University of Rochester ...

Rock And Rho: Proteins that help cancer cells groove

2013-12-27
Rock And Rho: Proteins that help cancer cells groove Cells' adaptations to low oxygen conditions inside tumors promote breast cancer's spread Biologists at The Johns Hopkins University have discovered that low oxygen conditions, which often persist inside tumors, ...

UTSW study identifies potential therapeutic target for incurable, rare type of soft-tissue cancer

2013-12-27
UTSW study identifies potential therapeutic target for incurable, rare type of soft-tissue cancer DALLAS – Dec. 26, 2013 – A deadly, rare type of soft-tissue cancer may be completely eradicated simply by inhibiting a key protein involved ...

Toys, books, cribs harbor bacteria for long periods, study finds

2013-12-27
Toys, books, cribs harbor bacteria for long periods, study finds Streptococcus biofilms persisted on objects and surfaces in a daycare center, in some cases after a cleaning BUFFALO, N. Y. – Numerous scientific studies have concluded that two common bacteria that ...

Antioxidant drug knocks down multiple sclerosis-like disease in mice

2013-12-27
Antioxidant drug knocks down multiple sclerosis-like disease in mice PORTLAND, Ore. — Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University have discovered that an antioxidant designed more than a dozen years ago to fight damage within human cells significantly ...

Batteries as they are meant to be seen

2013-12-27
Batteries as they are meant to be seen In the search for long-lasting, inexpensive rechargeable batteries, researchers develop more realistic methods to study the materials in action Richland, Wash. -- Researchers have developed a way to microscopically ...

Discovering a 'THRIL' that correlates with severity of Kawasaki disease

2013-12-27
Discovering a 'THRIL' that correlates with severity of Kawasaki disease LA JOLLA, Calif., December 26, 2013 – Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute scientists have discovered a new molecule that forms when certain white blood cells—macrophages—are stimulated ...

Who is using MyPlate?

2013-12-27
Who is using MyPlate? Food preferences, cooking ability, involvement of children in food preparation, nutritional knowledge, and prior familiarity with MyPyramid were predictors of MyPlate awareness and use Most Americans know about MyPyramid – the triangle ...

BU researchers explore possible link between cognitive depressive symptoms and antiretroviral therapy uptake

2013-12-21
BU researchers explore possible link between cognitive depressive symptoms and antiretroviral therapy uptake Researchers from Boston University's School of Medicine (BUSM) and College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) found that among HIV-infected Russian drinkers, ...

Wayne State University physicists publish observation of the 'Charming Socialites'

2013-12-21
Wayne State University physicists publish observation of the 'Charming Socialites' DETROIT — Protons and neutrons, the particles in an atomic nucleus, are made of smaller pieces called "quarks." Some types of quarks ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

New CRISPR test could make tuberculosis screening as simple as a mouth swab

Three-sensor overeating detection could reshape obesity treatment

Study provides first evidence that plastic nanoparticles can accumulate in the edible parts of vegetables

AI predicts complications from surgery better than doctors

New personalized risk score could improve ovarian cancer detection

People on Ozempic who eat to regulate emotions less likely to lose weight

AACR Cancer Progress Report highlights lifesaving impact of federal investments in cancer research

Indra's internet

Lymph nodes found to be key to successful cancer immunotherapy

Room-temperature terahertz device opens door to 6G networks

A hard look at geoengineering reveals global risks

When smoke signals danger: How Australian lizards evolved to escape fire

Beyond the surface: Atopic eczema linked to significantly higher risk of suicidal thoughts, major study finds

After weight loss regular exercise rather than GLP-1 weight-loss drug reduces leading cause of heart attack and strokes

EASD launches its first ever clinical practice guideline – the world’s first to focus on diabetes distress

Semaglutide provides powerful protection against diabetic retinopathy, the leading cause of blindness in working-age adults, Greek study suggests

Orforglipron taken orally once daily leads to significant body weight loss (ATTAIN-1 Study)

U of I researchers trace genetic code’s origins to early protein structures

Disease experts team up with Florida Museum of Natural History to create a forecast for West Nile virus

Researchers: Targeted efforts needed to stem fentanyl crisis

New UMaine research could help lower prescription drug costs

Molecular movie shows how mitochondria read their DNA

Loss of key male fertility gene leads to changes in expression of hundreds of other genes

Water’s density is key to sustainable lithium mining

Pioneering research reveals problem gambling quadruples the risk of suicide among young people four years later

New method improves the accuracy of machine-learned potentials for simulating catalysts

Astronomers discover rare Einstein cross with fifth image, revealing hidden dark matter

UCalgary researchers show brain shunts significantly benefit older adults with hydrocephalus

UCalgary researchers pursue new approach to manage deadly lung scarring

Psychotherapy can be readily integrated into brief “med-check” psychiatry visits

[Press-News.org] New drug candidates show promise for cure for Chagas disease