Abstract
Control of Leishmania infection relies primarily on chemotherapy, and the current drug available for treating leishmaniasis is limited. Nitazoxanide (NTZ) is a broad spectrum antiparasitic agent with activity against protozoa, nematodes, cestodes, and trematodes. In the present study, the in vitro antileishmanial efficacy of NTZ was evaluated by incubation of Leishmania donovani promastigotes with NTZ, indicating that NTZ can affect the ultrastructure of parasite promastigote and efficiently inhibit the parasite growth. Moreover, 200 μg/ml NTZ inhibited >90% of promastigotes growth, showing similar activity of the reference drug amphotericin B (P > 0.05). Therapeutic efficacy of NTZ against L. donovani-infected BALB/c mice demonstrated that oral NTZ produced a significant reduction of parasite burden in spleen and liver from L. donovani-infected mice, compared with the untreated mice (P < 0.05). These results indicated NTZ may be a novel therapeutic drug for leishmaniasis.
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Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program (“863” Program) of (No. 2009AA10Z402) and “Gold Idea” foundation of Institute of Military Veterinary, Academy of Military Medical Sciences (No. YCX0901).