Evaluación de nuevas formulaciones de fármacos antihelmínticos para el tratamiento de la esquistosomiasis

Abstract

Squistosomiasis is a disease caused by trematode parasites of Schistosoma genus. It mainly affects tropical and subtropical areas, remains a major global health problem because of its high incidence in these regions. One of the most important species, because of its prevalence and severity, is Schistosoma mansoni, responsible for intestinal schistosomiasis. The treatment of choice is praziquantel, which exhibit high rates of clinical efficacy. However, this drug doesn’t prevent reinfection and therapeutic failure is frequently observed in endemic areas. Therefore, the search for therapeutic alternatives is urgently required. The objective of this assay was to evaluate in-vitro two types of praziquantel nanoparticles formulations (type A and type S) and, also, an alternative treatment with ivermectin against the adult stage of S. mansoni. The results showed that treatment with such nanoparticles has a similar or better efficiency than the available praziquantel powder. However, treatment with ivermectin didn’t provide evidence of greater effectiveness. Futures studies will be carried out to evaluate these formulations in different biological phases, as well as to perform in vivo studies using an experimental model.