Effects of Ravuconazole Treatment on Parasite Load and Immune Response in Dogs Experimentally Infected with Trypanosoma cruzi

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
2010.0

Abstract

In this work, we investigated the in vivo activity of ravuconazole against the Y and Berenice-78 Trypanosoma cruzi strains using acutely infected dogs as hosts. Ravuconazole was well tolerated, as no significant side effects were observed during the treatment using 6.0 mg/kg twice a day (12 mg/kg/day) for up to 90 days. In all treated animals, parasitemia was permanently suppressed by the first day of treatment, independently of the parasite strain. Cultures of blood obtained posttreatment were negative for 90% of the animals, confirming that the drug induced a marked reduction in the parasite load. The results of PCR tests for T. cruzi in blood performed 1 month posttreatment were consistently negative for three of five and two of five animals infected with the Y and Berenice-78 strains, respectively. All ravuconazole-treated dogs consistently had negative serological test results during and until 30 days after treatment, regardless of the therapeutic scheme used. However, after the end of treatment, an increase in specific antibody levels was observed in all treated animals, although the antibody levels were always significantly lower than those of the nontreated control dogs. Despite being unable to induce a parasitological cure, ravuconazole treatment led to significant reductions in the levels of gamma interferon expression and lesions in cardiac tissues in animals infected with the Y strain, while the level of interleukin-10 mRNA expression increased. We conclude that ravuconazole has potent suppressive but not curative activity in the canine model of acute Chagas' disease, probably due to its unfavorable pharmacokinetic properties (half-life, 8.8 h). The longer half-life of ravuconazole in humans (4 to 8 days) makes it a promising drug for assessment for use as chemotherapy in human Chagas' disease.

Knowledge Graph

Similar Paper

Effects of Ravuconazole Treatment on Parasite Load and Immune Response in Dogs Experimentally Infected with Trypanosoma cruzi
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy 2010.0
The Anti-Trypanosoma cruziActivity of Posaconazole in a Murine Model of Acute Chagas' Disease Is Less Dependent on Gamma Interferon than That of Benznidazole
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy 2007.0
Absence of CD4<sup>+</sup>T Lymphocytes, CD8<sup>+</sup>T Lymphocytes, or B Lymphocytes Has Different Effects on the Efficacy of Posaconazole and Benznidazole in Treatment of Experimental AcuteTrypanosoma cruziInfection
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy 2009.0
Two Analogues of Fenarimol Show Curative Activity in an Experimental Model of Chagas Disease
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 2013.0
Analogues of Fenarimol Are Potent Inhibitors of Trypanosoma cruzi and Are Efficacious in a Murine Model of Chagas Disease
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 2012.0
In Vitro and in Vivo Anti-Trypanosoma cruzi Activity of New Arylamine Mannich Base-Type Derivatives
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 2016.0
Scorpiand-like azamacrocycles prevent the chronic establishment of Trypanosoma cruzi in a murine model
European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 2013.0
In Vitro and in Vivo Trypanosomicidal Activity of Pyrazole-Containing Macrocyclic and Macrobicyclic Polyamines: Their Action on Acute and Chronic Phases of Chagas Disease
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 2012.0
Prospects of an alternative treatment against Trypanosoma cruzi based on abietic acid derivatives show promising results in Balb/c mouse model
European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 2015.0
In vivo studies of 5-arylethenylbenzofuroxans in acute murine models of Chagas' disease
European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 2008.0