Curcumin and Neglected Infectious Diseases
Venkatesan Jayaprakash, Daniele Castagnolo, Yusuf Özkay in Medicinal Chemistry of Neglected and Tropical Diseases, 2019
In India, where leishmaniasis is endemic, turmeric is traditionally used as spice in food and as relief formulations in the case of insect bites. In Traditional Indian Medicine (i.e., Ayurveda), curcumin (1) is largely known to have a wide spectrum of biological actions including immunomodulation and regulation of host defence mechanisms. Possible leishmanicidal effects have also been reported against a number of Leishmania species in vitro. However, the same antileishmanial activity is often not found in in vivo experiments, mainly due to the poor oral bioavailability, as a result of low solubility in water and low absorption (see section 6). In this regard, various curcumin-based formulations and nanoassemblies have been evaluated with the aim to increase the efficacy of the compound, showing good improvements of the effects against Leishmania parasites in vivo (see sections 7.2.1 and 7.2.5).
Leishmania spp.
Peter M. Lydyard, Michael F. Cole, John Holton, William L. Irving, Nino Porakishvili, Pradhib Venkatesan, Katherine N. Ward in Case Studies in Infectious Disease, 2010
Cutaneous leishmaniasis is seen on exposed parts of the body where the sandflies are likely to bite (Figure 6). Thus lesions may be found on the face, arms, and lower legs. Lesions may be single or multiple. They are usually apparent 2–6 weeks after the bite. Initially there is a red papule. This gradually enlarges over a few weeks. The lesion may take on a raised ulcerated form or be papulo-nodular. Secondary infection is possible and then lesions are more likely to be painful. Without specific treatment lesions will usually self-heal, but over prolonged periods. This may take 6 months to a few years. Over this period lesions may seem to regress and then relapse. All Leishmania species are capable of causing cutaneous disease, but the host immune response may alter the clinical picture. A weakened immune response with a high parasite burden causes diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis with multiple, spreading papular lesions. There may also be lymphatic spread with localized nodules along the track of lymphatics. A strong immune response with a low parasite burden causes a condition called leishmania recidivans. The immune response effectively clears the initial site of infection. A series of small papules surround this central clearing and these in turn are cleared.
Protozoa
Loretta A. Cormier, Pauline E. Jolly in The Primate Zoonoses, 2017
Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease with approximately one million cases and 20,000–30,000 deaths per year (WHO 2016d). Approximately 30 species have been identified, with about 15–20 capable of infecting humans, most of which are zoonotic (Ashford 2000; Gramiccia and Gradoni 2005). A variety of suspected reservoir hosts have been identified, which vary by geographic location and include dogs, horses, rodents, rock hyraxes, opossum, squirrels, anteaters, kinkajou, porcupines, sloths, and nonhuman primates (Ashford 2000). The vectors are phlebotomine sandflies with almost 100 species proven or suspected vectors, including Phlebotomus spp. in the Old World and Lutzomyia spp. in the New World (Maroli et al. 2013). Leishmania can also be transmitted by blood transfusions, needle sharing among drug users, vertical transmission, and in rare cases, sexual transmission (Magill 2015).
Co-delivery of amphotericin B and pentamidine loaded niosomal gel for the treatment of Cutaneous leishmaniasis
Published in Drug Delivery, 2023
Adnan Anjum, Kanwal Shabbir, Fakhar Ud Din, Shumaila Shafique, Syed Saoud Zaidi, Ali H Almari, Taha Alqahtani, Aleena Maryiam, Muhammad Moneeb Khan, Adel Al Fatease, Sidra Bashir, Gul Majid Khan
Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease caused by parasites found in different species of Leishmania (Shirian et al., 2013; Dar et al., 2018). Despite being among the top 10 individual disease burden, Leishmaniasis has been ignored globally (Alvar et al., 2012). Almost 1.5 million new cases of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) are being reported annually (Dar et al., 2018). The main hindrance in controlling the leishmaniasis is non availability of vaccine, safe and effective pharmacological agents and special diagnostic equipment’s (Hailu et al., 2016). CL is a major health risk that can cause variety of diseases ranging from self-healing infections to chronic disfiguring disease (Scott & Novais 2016). CL is characterized by the formation of abscess and chronic inflammation of skin (Rabia et al., 2020). It varies from tinny nodules to plaques and ulcer like lesion on the surface of skin (Batool et al., 2021).
Design of a multi-epitope subunit vaccine for immune-protection against Leishmania parasite
Published in Pathogens and Global Health, 2020
Sunita Yadav, Jay Prakash, Harish Shukla, Kanhu Charan Das, Timir Tripathi, Vikash Kumar Dubey
Leishmaniasis is a parasitic infectious disease which is caused by more than 20 species of Leishmania parasites. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is caused by Leishmania donovani. The available chemotherapy against this disease depends on a few anti-leishmanial drugs like pentamonial antimony, amphotericin B, miltefosine, paromomycin, etc., most of which have limitations like side-effects, high cost, availability, and resistance. Currently, multi-drug chemotherapy provides~97% of the cases cured [1,2]. However, new cases are continuously emerging. The rapid spread of leishmaniasis can be due to the emergence of new VL cases in non-endemic areas [3,4]and the evolution of new Leishmania strains (due to genetic mutations) that developed under drug pressure [5]. The absence of an effective vaccine is also an obstacle toward the complete eradication of VL.
How can proteomics overhaul our understanding of Leishmania biology?
Published in Expert Review of Proteomics, 2020
Paul W. Denny, Karunakaran Kalesh
The development and severity of clinical manifestations of leishmaniasis depend not only on the Leishmania spp. but on the many factors pertaining to the susceptible individual such as malnutrition, comorbidities and the state of the immune system. Leishmania spp. parasites have co-evolved with humans in endemic areas and this positive selection pressure has contributed to pathogen survival by latent infection. The development of post-Kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) in some visceral leishmaniasis (VL) patients after recovery from the VL, and the development of mucosal lesions in some individuals after several years or even decades of developing primary cutaneous lesions, are indicative of the ability of the parasite to persist within the host even after successful treatment of the initial clinical condition. Clearly, despite years of research, many aspects of the Leishmania-host interaction remain poorly understood. In principle, all antileishmanials that work purely by targeting a parasite protein are likely to eventually fail as the extraordinary genetic plasticity of Leishmania spp. will confer fitness gains enabling the parasite to effectively evolve toward drug-resistant phenotypes. Therefore, an alternative strategy of host-directed therapeutic development has been proposed to tackle this issue. However, in the first place this requires better understanding of the Leishmania-host interaction.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Cutaneous Leishmaniasis
- Leishmania Donovani
- Leishmaniasis
- Phlebotomus
- Visceral Leishmaniasis
- Lutzomyia
- Paleoleishmania