Mini Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 15, Issue 3, 2015

Despite affecting around 8 million people worldwide and representing an economic burden above $7 billion/ year, currently approved medications to treat Chagas disease are still limited to two drugs, nifurtimox and benznidazole, which were developed more than 40 years ago and present important efficacy and safety limitations. Drug repositioning (i.e. finding second or further therapeutic indications for known drugs) has r Read More

Neglected diseases are infections that thrive mainly among underdeveloped countries, particularly those belonging to regions found in Asia, Africa, and America. One of the most complex diseases is noma, a dangerous health condition characterized by a polymicrobial and opportunistic nature. The search for potent and safer antibacterial agents against this disease is therefore a goal of particular interest. Chemoinformatics can Read More

Leishmaniasis affects more than 12 million people in 98 countries, the infection being caused by more than 20 species of protozoan parasites belonging to the genus Leishmania and spread by sandflies bite. Poor sanitary conditions, malnutrition, deforestation and urbanization increase the risk for leishmaniasis. Leishmaniasis is the only tropical disease treated with non-anti-leishmanial drugs, among which liposomal amphot Read More

Entamoeba being an internal parasite is the causative organism of many human and animal infections with lethal consequences. Chemotherapy against Entamoeba was well established by both synthetic and natural products. Vigorous attainments were made by different researchers all over the world for discovering better chemical entities and the potent formulations. Preexisting compounds were developed into non-cytotoxi Read More

Neglected tropical diseases (NTD) are a group of 17 diseases transmitted by virus, protozoa, helminthes and bacteria. These illnesses are responsible for millions of deaths per year, affecting mainly the poorest populations in the world. The therapeutic drugs available are obsolete, toxic, have questionable efficacy and there are reports of resistance. Therefore, the discovery of new, safe, effective and affordable acti Read More

Leishmaniasis is a neglected disease affecting more than 12 million people worldwide. The most used drugs are pentavalent antimonials that are very toxic and display the problem of drug resistance, especially in endemic regions such as Bihar in India. For this reason, it is urgent to find new and less toxic drugs against leishmaniasis. To this end, the understanding of pathways affecting parasite survival is of prime importance Read More

Natural products are compounds that are isolated from plants, provide a variety of lead structures for the development of new drugs by the pharmaceutical industry. The interest in these substances increases because of their beneficial effects on human health, which include antiviral, antiallergic, antiplatelet, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, antioxidant, and antiparasitic activities. Leishmaniasis is the infection caused by p Read More