Resumo

GARAY, Ana Fidelina Gómez; DIAZ, Jorge Javier Alfonso Ruiz; KAYANO, Anderson Makoto  e  BORGES, Adolfo. Leishmaniasis and Chagas Disease: Tools for New Treatment Approaches. Rev. Soc. cient. Parag. [online]. 2019, vol.24, n.1, pp.126-136. ISSN 2617-4731.  https://doi.org/10.32480/rscp.2019-24-1.126-136.

Leishmaniasis and Chagas disease affect millions of people worldwide, particularly in Latin America where poor and vulnerable rural populations are mostly affected. Although joint efforts have been made to fight these neglected diseases, the combination of different factors such as inefficient treatment, lack of interest in investing in the search for new therapeutic sources, and the emergence of resistant strains of parasites end up complicating prospects. This situation makes it vitally important to develop new strategies aimed at identifying molecules with potential application in therapy or that may exert a synergistic effect when supplemented with current chemotherapy. One of the approaches proposed for this purpose is the search for these agents based on pharmacological targets present in the parasites causing Leishmaniasis and Chagas. Among these molecular targets there are enzymes involved in essential pathways of the parasite, such as Trypanothione Reductase (TR), involved in combating oxidative stress generated by reactive oxygen species produced by host macrophages during infection. An important tool in the search for inhibitors for this enzyme can be found in the application of in silico tools, which is a relatively inexpensive and fast method of selecting potential molecules from a variety of sources. Assays based on virtual screening allow the selection of molecules in a rational way, which through complementary tests can lead to the future emergence of new drugs.

Palavras-chave : Leishmaniasis; Chagas Disease; trypanothione reductase; virtual screening.

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