Tropical Protozoan Diseases: Discovery and Development of Antiparasitic Drugs

A special issue of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease (ISSN 2414-6366).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (5 February 2024) | Viewed by 3388

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Parnaíba Delta, Parnaíba 64202-020, Brazil
Interests: neglected diseases; leishmaniasis; Chagas diseases; malaria; toxoplasmosis

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Tropical diseases caused by protozoa affect more than one billion people worldwide, with 90% of those infected living in developing countries. With limited resources, research and infrastructure investment to control these diseases has been insufficient. With devastating social and economic consequences, diseases such as malaria, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, human African trypanosomiasis, and toxoplasmosis are responsible for great morbidity and mortality worldwide. Clinical manifestations reveal distinct epidemiological profiles which depend on the species, the region involved, and the patient's immunological conditions. For most tropical diseases, the current treatments are outdated and present significant drawbacks, including toxicity, the need for hospitalization, drug resistance, and high costs. New treatments for tropical diseases are urgently needed.

This Special Issue on Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases aims to gather relevant manuscripts involving basic, translational, and clinical research, and covering various advances in treatment for tropical diseases caused by protozoa. For this research topic, we are inviting interested researchers to share their original research, relevant findings, and review articles in the areas of:

  • anti-protozoan drug identification;
  • drug combinations;
  • immunotherapy;
  • drug-delivery systems;
  • parasite drug resistance;
  • target identification—validation for tropical protozoan diseases of medical interest.

Prof. Dr. Klinger Antonio da Franca Rodrigues
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • neglected diseases
  • drug development
  • leishmaniasis
  • trypanosomiasis
  • toxoplasmosis
  • malaria

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

20 pages, 6773 KiB  
Review
Mitochondrial Cytochrome bc1 Complex as Validated Drug Target: A Structural Perspective
by Lothar Esser and Di Xia
Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2024, 9(2), 39; https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed9020039 - 1 Feb 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2914
Abstract
Mitochondrial respiratory chain Complex III, also known as cytochrome bc1 complex or cyt bc1, is a validated target not only for antibiotics but also for pesticides and anti-parasitic drugs. Although significant progress has been made in understanding the mechanisms of [...] Read more.
Mitochondrial respiratory chain Complex III, also known as cytochrome bc1 complex or cyt bc1, is a validated target not only for antibiotics but also for pesticides and anti-parasitic drugs. Although significant progress has been made in understanding the mechanisms of cyt bc1 function and inhibition by using various natural and synthetic compounds, important issues remain in overcoming drug resistance in agriculture and in evading cytotoxicity in medicine. In this review, we look at these issues from a structural perspective. After a brief description of the essential and common structural features, we point out the differences among various cyt bc1 complexes of different organisms, whose structures have been determined to atomic resolution. We use a few examples of cyt bc1 structures determined via bound inhibitors to illustrate both conformational changes observed and implications to the Q-cycle mechanism of cyt bc1 function. These structures not only offer views of atomic interactions between cyt bc1 complexes and inhibitors, but they also provide explanations for drug resistance when structural details are coupled to sequence changes. Examples are provided for exploiting structural differences in evolutionarily conserved enzymes to develop antifungal drugs for selectivity enhancement, which offer a unique perspective on differential interactions that can be exploited to overcome cytotoxicity in treating human infections. Full article
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