New Drug may Help Eradicate Neglected Tropical Illness, Chagas Disease

A new drug shows promise for Chagas disease-a health issue caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi that's transmitted to animals and people via insect vectors. Though the disease is typically only found in rural parts of Latin America, with an estimated 18 million people living in parts of Latin America are suffering from the disease, according to the CDC, other areas, including the United States, are also affected by the health issue. 

"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," said Deborah Nicoll-Griffith of the Merck Frosst Centre for Therapeutic Research in Kirkland, Quebec, a researcher on the study, via a press release. One 2005 estimate put the number of people infected within the U.S. at 300,000 (1/1000).

Efforts to find new drugs for treatment of the disease have been challenging. For instance, though there are medical treatments available for those newly diagnosed with the issue, the same treatments may be less effective at later or chronic developments of the health issue. The drug benzindazole is used currently to provide significant attack against the parasite during the acute phase. However, if the problem is diagnosed at a later date, this medication may not be useful.

Researchers set out to produce a drug which focuses on the disruption of the enzyme cruzipain, which the parasite uses to help evade the host's immune system and potentially invade heart and gastrointestinal tissues.

They identified two compounds known as reversible cysteine protease inhibitors that fit cruzipan. They tested the efficacy of the compounds in mice against the drug benznidazole. Findings showed greater cure rates (90 to 78 percent) for acute infections when compared to the benznidazole (71 percent).

"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," the researchers conclude, via the release.

More information regarding the study can be found via the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.