scholarly journals Sterilizing Effects of Novel Regimens Containing TB47, Clofazimine and Linezolid in a Murine Model of Tuberculosis.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Wei ◽  
Buhari Yusuf ◽  
Wang Shuai ◽  
Tian Xirong ◽  
H. M. Adnan Hameed ◽  
...  

Toxicity and inconvenience associated with the use of injectable drug-containing regimens for tuberculosis (TB) have made all-oral regimens a preferred alternative. Widespread resistance to fluoroquinolones and pyrazinamide makes it essential to identify new drug candidates and study their effects on current regimens for TB. TB47 is a pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyridine-3-carboxamide with powerful synergistic in vitro and in vivo activities against mycobacteria, especially with clofazimine. Here, we investigated the bactericidal and sterilizing activities of novel oral regimens containing TB47 + clofazimine + linezolid, and the potential roles of levofloxacin and/or pyrazinamide in such drug combinations. Using a well-established mouse model, we assessed the effect of these regimens on bacterial burden in the lung during treatment and relapse (4 months after stopping treatment + immunosuppression). Our findings indicate that the TB47 + clofazimine + linezolid + pyrazinamide, with/without levofloxacin, regimens had fast-acting (4 months) sterilizing activity and no relapse was observed. When pyrazinamide was excluded from the regimen, treatment times were longer (5-6 months) to achieve sterilizing conditions. We propose that TB47 + clofazimine + linezolid can form a highly sterilizing block for use as an alternative pan-TB regimen.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prakhar Agrawal ◽  
Surekha Kumari ◽  
Upendra Sharma ◽  
Dinkar Sahal

Abstract Malaria continues to be a killer disease even in the modern world. Vaccines and drugs have a lot to learn from the malaria parasite before they can be successful. Here, using a filter for glideosomal anchor protein PfGAP50, we have explored a plethora of small molecules to shortlist eight GAP50 binders with promising antiplasmodial activity (IC50 < 3 µM) that are also highly selective. Of these, Hayatinin, Bedaquiline, MMV688271, Curine, and Brilacidin with PfINDO IC50 ≤ 1 µM were found to stall merozoites invasion by inhibiting IMC formation besides increasing ROS levels in trophozoites. Bedaquiline loaded healthy RBCs showed prophylactic ability to prevent intraerythrocytic development of malaria parasite. Synergistic activities with ΣFIC values as low as 0.22 (Curine and Artemisinin) or 0.37 (Bedaquiline and Artemisinin) augur well for the development of drug combinations to combat malaria effectively. Interestingly, orally delivered Bedaquiline (50 mg/Kg b. wt.) showed substantial suppression of parasitemia in the mouse model of malaria.


Author(s):  
Dipti Sharma ◽  
Raees A. Paul ◽  
Shivaprakash M. Rudramurthy ◽  
Nisha Kashyap ◽  
Sanjay Bhattacharya ◽  
...  

Objectives: Echinocandins are frontline antifungal agents in the management of invasive infections due to multi-drug resistant Candida auris . The study aimed to evaluate echinocandin resistance in C. auris isolates of multicentric origin, identify the resistance mechanism, and analyze the pharmacodynamic response to caspofungin in a neutropenic mouse model of infection. Methods : A total of 199 C. auris isolates originating from thirty centres across India were tested for susceptibility to echinocandins. Isolates with reduced susceptibility were evaluated for FKS 1 mutations and in-vivo response to caspofungin in a murine model of disseminated candidiasis. In addition, the response to echinocandins was assessed in light of in-vitro growth kinetics, chitin content; and transcript levels of chitin synthase and FKS1 genes. Results: We report 10 resistant C. auris isolates with four FKS 1 mutations: F635Y ( n =2), F635L ( n =4), S639F ( n =3), and R1354S ( n =1). Of these, F635Y and R1354S exhibited the most profound resistance in mouse model of disseminated infection. S639F and F635L mutations conferred a moderate in vivo resistance, whereas wild-type isolates exhibiting borderline MIC were susceptible in vivo . FKS 1 genotype was more accurate predictor of in-vivo response than the MIC of the isolates. Isolates with high basal or inducible chitin content exhibited higher in vitro MIC in FKS 1 mutant compared to wild-type. Conclusions FKS 1 mutations play a major role in clinically relevant echinocandin resistance in C. auris with differential in vivo outcomes. This study could have implications for clinical practice and, therefore, warrants further studies.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
PRAKHAR AGRAWAL ◽  
SUREKHA KUMARI ◽  
UPENDRA SHARMA ◽  
DINKAR SAHAL

Abstract Malaria continues to be a killer disease even in the modern world. Vaccines and drugs have a lot to learn from the malaria parasite before they can be successful. Here, using a filter for glideosomal anchor protein PfGAP50, we have explored a plethora of small molecules to shortlist eight GAP50 binders with promising antiplasmodial activity (IC50 < 3 µM) that are also highly selective. Of these, Hayatinin, Bedaquiline, MMV688271, Curine, and Brilacidin with PfINDO IC50 ≤ 1 µM were found to stall merozoites invasion by inhibiting IMC formation besides increasing ROS levels in trophozoites. Bedaquiline loaded healthy RBCs showed prophylactic ability to prevent intraerythrocytic development of malaria parasite. Synergistic activities with ΣFIC values as low as 0.22 (Curine and Artemisinin) or 0.37 (Bedaquiline and Artemisinin) augur well for the development of drug combinations to combat malaria effectively. Interestingly, orally delivered Bedaquiline (50 mg/Kg b. wt.) showed substantial suppression of parasitemia in the mouse model of malaria.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (25) ◽  
pp. 4799-4831 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiahua Cui ◽  
Xiaoyang Liu ◽  
Larry M.C. Chow

P-glycoprotein, also known as ABCB1 in the ABC transporter family, confers the simultaneous resistance of metastatic cancer cells towards various anticancer drugs with different targets and diverse chemical structures. The exploration of safe and specific inhibitors of this pump has always been the pursuit of scientists for the past four decades. Naturally occurring flavonoids as benzopyrone derivatives were recognized as a class of nontoxic inhibitors of P-gp. The recent advent of synthetic flavonoid dimer FD18, as a potent P-gp modulator in reversing multidrug resistance both in vitro and in vivo, specifically targeted the pseudodimeric structure of the drug transporter and represented a new generation of inhibitors with high transporter binding affinity and low toxicity. This review concerned the recent updates on the structure-activity relationships of flavonoids as P-gp inhibitors, the molecular mechanisms of their action and their ability to overcome P-gp-mediated MDR in preclinical studies. It had crucial implications on the discovery of new drug candidates that modulated the efflux of ABC transporters and also provided some clues for the future development in this promising area.


2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 509-520
Author(s):  
Cauê B. Scarim ◽  
Chung M. Chin

Background: In recent years, there has been an improvement in the in vitro and in vivo methodology for the screening of anti-chagasic compounds. Millions of compounds can now have their activity evaluated (in large compound libraries) by means of high throughput in vitro screening assays. Objective: Current approaches to drug discovery for Chagas disease. Method: This review article examines the contribution of these methodological advances in medicinal chemistry in the last four years, focusing on Trypanosoma cruzi infection, obtained from the PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases. Results: Here, we have shown that the promise is increasing each year for more lead compounds for the development of a new drug against Chagas disease. Conclusion: There is increased optimism among those working with the objective to find new drug candidates for optimal treatments against Chagas disease.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuejie Gao ◽  
Bo Li ◽  
Anqi Ye ◽  
Houcai Wang ◽  
Yongsheng Xie ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Multiple myeloma (MM) is a highly aggressive and incurable clonal plasma cell disease with a high rate of recurrence. Thus, the development of new therapies is urgently needed. DCZ0805, a novel compound synthesized from osalmide and pterostilbene, has few observed side effects. In the current study, we intend to investigate the therapeutic effects of DCZ0805 in MM cells and elucidate the molecular mechanism underlying its anti-myeloma activity. Methods We used the Cell Counting Kit-8 assay, immunofluorescence staining, cell cycle assessment, apoptosis assay, western blot analysis, dual-luciferase reporter assay and a tumor xenograft mouse model to investigate the effect of DCZ0805 treatment both in vivo and in vitro. Results The results showed that DCZ0805 treatment arrested the cell at the G0/G1 phase and suppressed MM cells survival by inducing apoptosis via extrinsic and intrinsic pathways. DCZ0805 suppressed the NF-κB signaling pathway activation, which may have contributed to the inhibition of cell proliferation. DCZ0805 treatment remarkably reduced the tumor burden in the immunocompromised xenograft mouse model, with no obvious toxicity observed. Conclusion The findings of this study indicate that DCZ0805 can serve as a novel therapeutic agent for the treatment of MM.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (9) ◽  
pp. 2505
Author(s):  
Raheem Remtulla ◽  
Sanjoy Kumar Das ◽  
Leonard A. Levin

Phosphine-borane complexes are novel chemical entities with preclinical efficacy in neuronal and ophthalmic disease models. In vitro and in vivo studies showed that the metabolites of these compounds are capable of cleaving disulfide bonds implicated in the downstream effects of axonal injury. A difficulty in using standard in silico methods for studying these drugs is that most computational tools are not designed for borane-containing compounds. Using in silico and machine learning methodologies, the absorption-distribution properties of these unique compounds were assessed. Features examined with in silico methods included cellular permeability, octanol-water partition coefficient, blood-brain barrier permeability, oral absorption and serum protein binding. The resultant neural networks demonstrated an appropriate level of accuracy and were comparable to existing in silico methodologies. Specifically, they were able to reliably predict pharmacokinetic features of known boron-containing compounds. These methods predicted that phosphine-borane compounds and their metabolites meet the necessary pharmacokinetic features for orally active drug candidates. This study showed that the combination of standard in silico predictive and machine learning models with neural networks is effective in predicting pharmacokinetic features of novel boron-containing compounds as neuroprotective drugs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. iii413-iii413
Author(s):  
Maggie Seblani ◽  
Markella Zannikou ◽  
Katarzyna Pituch ◽  
Liliana Ilut ◽  
Oren Becher ◽  
...  

Abstract Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is a devastating brain tumor affecting young children. Immunotherapies hold promise however the lack of immunocompetent models recreating a faithful tumor microenvironment (TME) remains a challenge for development of targeted immunotherapeutics. We propose to generate an immunocompetent DIPG mouse model through induced overexpression of interleukin 13 receptor alpha 2 (IL13Rα2), a tumor-associated antigen overexpressed by glioma cells. A model with an intact TME permits comprehensive preclinical assessment of IL13Rα2-targeted immunotherapeutics. Our novel model uses the retroviral avian leucosis and sarcoma virus (RCAS) for in vivo gene delivery leading to IL13Rα2 expression in proliferating progenitor cells. Transfected cells expressing IL13Rα2 and PDGFB, a ligand for platelet derived growth factor receptor, alongside induced p53 loss via the Cre-Lox system are injected in the fourth ventricle in postnatal pups. We validated the expression of PDGFB and IL13Rα2 transgenes in vitro and in vivo and will characterize the TME through evaluation of the peripheral and tumor immunologic compartments using immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry. We confirmed expression of transgenes via flow cytometry and western blotting. Comparison of survival dynamics in mice inoculated with PDGFB alone with PDGFB+IL13Rα2 demonstrated that co-expression of IL13Rα2 did not significantly affect mice survival compared to the PDGFB model. At time of application, we initiated experiments to characterize the TME. Preliminary data demonstrate establishment of tumors within and adjacent to the brainstem and expression of target transgenes. Preclinical findings in a model recapitulating the TME may provide better insight into outcomes upon translation to clinical application.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 644
Author(s):  
Cintya Perdomo ◽  
Elena Aguilera ◽  
Ileana Corvo ◽  
Paula Faral-Tello ◽  
Elva Serna ◽  
...  

The trypanosomatid parasites Trypanosoma brucei, Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania are the causative agents of human African trypanosomiasis, Chagas Disease and Leishmaniasis, respectively. These infections primarily affect poor, rural communities in the developing world, and are responsible for trapping sufferers and their families in a disease/poverty cycle. The development of new chemotherapies is a priority given that existing drug treatments are problematic. In our search for novel anti-trypanosomatid agents, we assess the growth-inhibitory properties of >450 compounds from in-house and/or “Pathogen Box” (PBox) libraries against L. infantum, L. amazonensis, L.braziliensis, T. cruzi and T. brucei and evaluate the toxicities of the most promising agents towards murine macrophages. Screens using the in-house series identified 17 structures with activity against and selective toward Leishmania: Compounds displayed 50% inhibitory concentrations between 0.09 and 25 μM and had selectivity index values >10. For the PBox library, ~20% of chemicals exhibited anti-parasitic properties including five structures whose activity against L. infantum had not been reported before. These five compounds displayed no toxicity towards murine macrophages over the range tested with three being active in an in vivo murine model of the cutaneous disease, with 100% survival of infected animals. Additionally, the oral combination of three of them in the in vivo Chagas disease murine model demonstrated full control of the parasitemia. Interestingly, phenotyping revealed that the reference strain responds differently to the five PBox-derived chemicals relative to parasites isolated from a dog. Together, our data identified one drug candidate that displays activity against Leishmania and other Trypanosomatidae in vitro and in vivo, while exhibiting low toxicity to cultured mammalian cells and low in vivo acute toxicity.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document