Proteinase Inhibitors: A Promising Drug Class for Treating Leishmaniasis

Title:Proteinase Inhibitors: A Promising Drug Class for Treating Leishmaniasis

Volume: 15 Issue: 12

Author(s): Bernardo Acacio Santini Pereira, Franklin Souza-Silva, Mariana Silva-Almeida, Raquel Santos-de-Souza, Luiz Filipe Goncalves de Oliveira, Michelle Lopes Ribeiro-Guimaraes and Carlos Roberto Alves

Affiliation:

Keywords: Leishmaniasis, Leishmania, proteinases, proteinase inhibitors, treatment, virulence factors.

Abstract: This review presents and discusses the current status and perspectives of leishmaniasis treatment, with a special focus on the use of proteinase inhibitors. The history of treatment development, the first- and second-choice modern drugs and the advantages and disadvantages of using proteinases inhibitors as leishmanicidal treatments are presented and discussed. The reports gathered herein confirm the potential usefulness of proteinases inhibitors as an alternative or complement to the current leishmaniasis treatments. They also support the hypothesis that a combined treatment with multiple proteinase inhibitors may be efficient against Leishmania infections in vertebrate hosts.

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Pereira Acacio Santini Bernardo, Souza-Silva Franklin, Silva-Almeida Mariana, Santos-de-Souza Raquel, Oliveira Filipe Goncalves de Luiz, Ribeiro-Guimaraes Lopes Michelle and Alves Roberto Carlos, Proteinase Inhibitors: A Promising Drug Class for Treating Leishmaniasis, Current Drug Targets 2014; 15 (12) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1389450115666141016150007