Emerging Parasitic Protozoa
1
Instituto Universitario de Enfermedades Tropicales y Salud Pública de Canarias, Universidad de La Laguna, Avda. Astrofísico Fco. Sánchez, S/N, La Laguna, Tenerife, 38203 Islas Canarias, Spain
2
Departamento de Obstetricia, Ginecología, Pediatría, Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública, Toxicología, Medicina Legal y Forense y Parasitología, Universidad De La Laguna, La Laguna, Tenerife, 38203 Islas Canarias, Spain
3
Red de Investigación Colaborativa en Enfermedades Tropicales, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Pathogens 2020, 9(9), 704; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9090704
Submission received: 17 August 2020
/
Revised: 20 August 2020
/
Accepted: 21 August 2020
/
Published: 27 August 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Parasitic Protozoa)
The terms emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases have been related to a group of diseases that have appeared in a population in the recent past or that have existed but are rapidly increasing in incidence or changing their geographic range. Among the causative agents, parasitic protozoa are emerging as a global health issue worldwide. This special issue is focused on all aspects of parasitic protozoa diseases, from diagnostics to treatment and prevalence, and will have a focalized section on free living amoebae.
Diseases caused by emerging parasitic protozoa present in common the need of standardized diagnostic tools and the lack of fully effective therapeutic agents [1].
In this special issue, supporting the need of therapeutic agents, therapy approaches were described, such as novel natural sources, including leishmanicidal agents. In this work, isolated compounds from a plant called Withania aristata were highlighted as new potential agents against these protozoa [2]. Moreover, curcumin derived molecules were presented as useful against Entamoeba infections [3], derivates from ursolic acid, which are present in olive leaves among other plants were evaluated as anti-Acanthamoeba agents [4], and current approaches to treat Giardia spp. infections. The state of the art by scientists working in this field was observed in two of the published papers, one of them dedicated to the development and validation of nanoparticles against Acanthamoeba infections [5] and the other highlighting a new powerful group of molecules: statins to treat the lethal encephalitis due to the Naegleria fowleri [6]. From a diagnostics point of view, the preliminary results were obtained.
A paper included in this issue showed a high seroprevalence for Leishmania in donkeys, as well as the occurrence of parasite DNA in blood [7]. Additional studies would be welcome, both to further investigate the kinetics of antibody response over a longer time and to elucidate the role of the donkey in Leishmania epidemiology in endemic areas.
Altogether, this special issue presents the current work being carried out by experts on the field of emerging parasitic protozoa. As the guest editors of this issue, we would like to thank and congratulate authors involved in it and also to encourage their research in this field.
Funding
This research received no external funding.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
References
- Bellini, N.K.; Fonseca, A.L.M.; Reyes-Batlle, M.; Lorenzo-Morales, J.; Rocha, O.; Thiemann, O.H. Isolation of Naegleria spp. from a Brazilian Water Source. Pathogens 2020, 9, 90. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
- López-Arencibia, A.; San Nicolás-Hernández, D.; Bethencourt-Estrella, C.J.; Sifaoui, I.; Reyes-Batlle, M.; Rodríguez-Expósito, R.L.; Rizo-Liendo, A.; Lorenzo-Morales, J.; Bazzocchi, I.L.; Piñero, J.E.; et al. Withanolides from Withania aristata as Antikinetoplastid Agents through Induction of Programmed Cell Death. Pathogens 2019, 8, 172. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
- Rangel-Castañeda, I.A.; Carranza-Rosales, P.; Guzmán-Delgado, N.E.; Hernández-Hernández, J.M.; González-Pozos, S.; Pérez-Rangel, A.; Castillo-Romero, A. Curcumin Attenuates the Pathogenicity of Entamoeba histolytica by Regulating the Expression of Virulence Factors in an Ex-Vivo Model Infection. Pathogens 2019, 8, 127. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
- Sifaoui, I.; Rodríguez-Expósito, R.L.; Reyes-Batlle, M.; Rizo-Liendo, A.; Piñero, J.E.; Bazzocchi, I.L.; Lorenzo-Morales, J.; Jiménez, I.A. Ursolic Acid Derivatives as Potential Agents Against Acanthamoeba Spp. Pathogens 2019, 8, 130. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
- Anwar, A.; Chi Fung, L.; Anwar, A.; Jagadish, P.; Numan, A.; Khalid, M.; Shahabuddin, S.; Siddiqui, R.; Khan, N.A. Effects of Shape and Size of Cobalt Phosphate Nanoparticles against Acanthamoeba castellanii. Pathogens 2019, 8, 260. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
- Rizo-Liendo, A.; Sifaoui, I.; Reyes-Batlle, M.; Chiboub, O.; Rodríguez-Expósito, R.L.; Bethencourt-Estrella, C.J.; San Nicolás-Hernández, D.; Hendiger, E.B.; López-Arencibia, A.; Rocha-Cabrera, P.; et al. In Vitro Activity of Statins against Naegleria fowleri. Pathogens 2019, 8, 122. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
- Nardoni, S.; Altomonte, I.; Salari, F.; Martini, M.; Mancianti, F. Serological and Molecular Findings of Leishmania Infection in Healthy Donkeys (Equus asinus) from a Canine Leishmaniosis Endemic Focus in Tuscany, Italy: A Preliminary Report. Pathogens 2019, 8, 99. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Share and Cite
MDPI and ACS Style
Lorenzo-Morales, J.; Piñero, J.E. Emerging Parasitic Protozoa. Pathogens 2020, 9, 704. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9090704
AMA Style
Lorenzo-Morales J, Piñero JE. Emerging Parasitic Protozoa. Pathogens. 2020; 9(9):704. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9090704
Chicago/Turabian StyleLorenzo-Morales, Jacob, and José E. Piñero. 2020. "Emerging Parasitic Protozoa" Pathogens 9, no. 9: 704. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9090704
Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
