Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year(sorted descending) Filter | PMID Filter |
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| kinetic characterization of inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase of leishmania donovani. | trypanosomatid protozoan pathogens are purine auxotrophs that are highly dependent on the enzyme inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase (impdh) for the synthesis of guanylate nucleotides. enzymatic characterization of the leishmania donovani impdh (ldimpdh) overexpressed in e. coli revealed that this enzyme was highly specific for the substrates imp and nad(+) with k(m)(app) values of 33 and 390 microm, respectively. in contrast to other impdhs, ldimpdh exhibits no substrate inhibition in high conc ... | 2007 | 17173987 |
| miltefosine induces apoptosis in arsenite-resistant leishmania donovani promastigotes through mitochondrial dysfunction. | the control of leishmaniasis in absence of vaccine solely depends on the choice of chemotherapy. the major hurdle in successful leishmanial chemotherapy is emergence of drug resistance. miltefosine, the first orally administrable anti-leishmanial drug, has shown the potential against drug-resistant strains of leishmania. however, there are discrepancies regarding the involvement of p-glycoprotein (pgp) and sensitivity of miltefosine in multiple drug-resistant (mdr) cell lines that overexpress pg ... | 2007 | 17161839 |
| chemotherapy of leishmaniasis part vi: synthesis and bioevaluation of some novel terpenyl s,n- and n,n-acetals. | some novel terpene based oxoketene s,n-acetals 2(a-g) and n,n-acetals 3(a-c) have been synthesized from oxoketene dithioacetal 1. the compounds were screened for their in vivo antileishmanial activity. some of the compounds showed 50-70% inhibition in the hamster model. | 2007 | 17178176 |
| cholesterol: a potential therapeutic target in leishmania infection? | leishmania are obligate intracellular parasites that invade and survive within host macrophages and can result in visceral leishmaniasis, a major public health problem worldwide. the entry of intracellular parasites, in general, involves interaction with the plasma membrane of host cells. cholesterol in host cell membranes was recently shown to be necessary for binding and internalization of leishmania and for the efficient presentation of leishmanial antigens in infected macrophages. this artic ... | 2007 | 17185038 |
| in vitro and in vivo leishmanicidal activity of dysoxylum binectariferum and its fractions against leishmania donovani. | the leishmanicidal effect of crude ethanolic extract of stem bark of dysoxylum binectariferum and its fractions has been investigated against leishmania donovani, the causative agent of visceral leishmaniasis. ethanolic extract was lethal to promastigotes as well as amastigote forms in macrophage system at the concentration of 100 microg/ml. chloroform fraction significantly inhibited promastigote multiplication and was also active against amastigotes in infected j774a.1 macrophages at 100 micro ... | 2007 | 17190644 |
| analysis of the leishmania donovani transcriptome reveals an ordered progression of transient and permanent changes in gene expression during differentiation. | leishmania donovani is an intracellular protozoan parasite that causes kala-azar in humans. during infection the extracellular insect forms (promastigotes) undergo rapid differentiation to intracellular amastigotes that proliferates in phagolysosomes of mammalian macrophages. we used microarray-based expression profiling to investigate the time-course of changes in rna abundance during promastigote-to-amastigote differentiation in a host-free system that mimics this process. these studies reveal ... | 2007 | 17204342 |
| role of abc transporter mrpa, gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase and ornithine decarboxylase in natural antimony-resistant isolates of leishmania donovani. | the resistance of clinical isolates of leishmania donovani to sodium antimony gluconate (sag), the mainstay of treatment in indian visceral leishmaniasis, has become a critical issue in india. the present work investigates the mechanism of resistance to sag in parasites isolated from patients who are unresponsive to sag. | 2007 | 17213267 |
| circulating nitric oxide and c-reactive protein levels in indian kala azar patients: correlation with clinical outcome. | interferon gamma (ifn-gamma) and nitric oxide (no) are the major players of the host defense against leishmania. in the present study circulating levels of ifn-gamma, no, interleukin (il)-6 and c-reactive protein (crp) were compared in kala azar (ka), post-kala azar dermal leishmaniasis (pkdl) and healthy controls. a significantly elevated level of these parameters was evident in ka compared to pkdl or control. further, significantly elevated levels of ifn-gamma, no and crp were observed in sodi ... | 2007 | 17218153 |
| leishmania donovani-induced ceramide as the key mediator of akt dephosphorylation in murine macrophages: role of protein kinase czeta and phosphatase. | leishmania donovani is an intracellular protozoan parasite that impairs the host macrophage immune response to render it suitable for its survival and establishment. l. donovani-induced immunosuppression and alteration of host cell signaling is mediated by ceramide, a pleiotropic second messenger playing an important role in regulation of several kinases, including mitogen-activated protein kinase and phosphatases. we observed that the endogenous ceramide generated during leishmanial infection l ... | 2007 | 17220321 |
| leishmania donovani bisubunit topoisomerase i gene fusion leads to an active enzyme with conserved type ib enzyme function. | all eukaryotic topoisomerase i enzymes are monomeric enzymes, whereas the kinetoplastid family (trypanosoma and leishmania) possess an unusual bisubunit topoisomerase i. to determine what happens to the enzyme architecture and catalytic property if the two subunits are fused, and to explore the functional relationship between the two subunits, we describe here in vitro gene fusion of leishmania bisubunit topoisomerase i into a single orf encoding a new monomeric topoisomerase i (ldtopil-fus-s). ... | 2007 | 17222179 |
| a s-adenosylmethionine synthetase gene from the pathogenic piscine hemoflagellate, cryptobia salmositica. | we report on the identification of a cryptobia genomic dna gene, predict it to encode a s-adenosylmethionine synthetase signature 1 motif and propose to name it s-adenosylmethionine synthetase (mat). the open reading frame of mat is 1,046 bp with 341 deduced amino acids. the mat gene was identified using universal genome walking and southern blot analysis revealed it to be a multi-copy gene. the s-adenosylmethionine synthetase of cryptobia salmositica amino acid sequence is similar to those of o ... | 2007 | 17226041 |
| glycoprotein 63 (gp63) genes show gene conversion and reveal the evolution of old world leishmania. | species of the subgenus leishmania (leishmania) cause the debilitating disease leishmaniasis on four continents. species grouped within the leishmania donovani complex cause visceral leishmaniasis, a life-threatening disease, often associated with poverty, and affecting some 0.5 million people each year. the leishmania glycoprotein gp63, or major surface protease, is a metalloprotease involved in parasite survival, infectivity and virulence. here, we show that evolution of the gp63 multigene fam ... | 2007 | 17280675 |
| miltefosine (hexadecylphosphocholine) inhibits cytochrome c oxidase in leishmania donovani promastigotes. | miltefosine (hexadecylphosphocholine [hepc]) is currently on trial as a first-choice, orally active drug for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis when resistance to organic pentavalent antimonials becomes epidemic. however, data on the targets involved in its leishmanicidal mechanism have, until now, been only fragmentary. we have carried out a systematic study of the alterations induced on the bioenergetic metabolism of leishmania donovani promastigotes by hepc. overnight incubation with hep ... | 2007 | 17283192 |
| milk of cow (bos taurus), buffalo (bubalus bubalis), and goat (capra hircus): a better alternative than fetal bovine serum in media for primary isolation, in vitro cultivation, and maintenance of leishmania donovani promastigotes. | tyndalized milk of goat, cow, and buffalo was found to be a potential substitute for fetal bovine serum (fbs) in the medium for the cultivation of leishmania donovani promastigotes. the numbers (means) of promastigotes reached 2.6 x 10(7), 2.3 x 10(7), and 2.1 x 10(7)/ml, respectively, in the medium supplemented with 10% milk of goat, cow, and buffalo, in comparison to 1.9 x 10(7)/ml in the control with 10% fbs. in primary isolation, the milk-supplemented medium showed that 22 out of 26 samples ... | 2007 | 17287321 |
| antileishmanial potential of a marine sponge, haliclona exigua (kirkpatrick) against experimental visceral leishmaniasis. | in this study, we are reporting antileishmanial activity of a marine sponge haliclona exigua, belonging to phylum porifera. the crude methanol extract and its three fractions were tested both in vitro and in vivo. the crude extract exerted almost complete inhibition of promastigotes at 50 microg/ml and 76.4 +/- 6.5% inhibition of intracellular amastigotes at 100 microg/ml concentration with ic50 values of 18.6 microg/ml and 47.2 microg/ml, respectively. when administered to leishmania donovani i ... | 2007 | 17294216 |
| proteomic approach for identification and characterization of novel immunostimulatory proteins from soluble antigens of leishmania donovani promastigotes. | visceral leishmaniasis (vl) caused by leishmania donovani is a major parasitic disease prevalent in endemic regions of bihar in india. in the absence of good chemotherapeutic options, there is a need to develop an effective vaccine against vl which should be dependent on the generation of a t helper type 1 (th1) immune response. we have shown that soluble proteins from promastigote of a new clinical isolate of l. donovani (2001) ranging from 68 to 97.4 kda (f2 fraction), induce th1 responses in ... | 2007 | 17295358 |
| differential gene expression analysis in antimony-unresponsive indian kala azar (visceral leishmaniasis) clinical isolates by dna microarray. | in this study, cdna microarray analysis of a closely related species, leishmania major, was used as a screening tool to compare antimonial-resistant and susceptible clinical isolates of leishmania donovani in order to to identify candidate genes on the basis of antimony resistance. clinically confirmed resistant isolate 39 and sensitive isolate 2001 were used in this study. many differentially regulated genes were identified whose expression levels differ in sodium antimony gluconate (sag)-treat ... | 2007 | 17306059 |
| multilocus microsatellite typing (mlmt) reveals genetically isolated populations between and within the main endemic regions of visceral leishmaniasis. | multilocus enzyme electrophoresis (mlee) is the gold standard for taxonomy and strain typing of leishmania, but has some limitations. an alternative reliable and fast genotyping method for addressing population genetic and key epidemiological questions, is multilocus microsatellite typing (mlmt). mlmt using 15 markers was applied to 91 strains of l. donovani, l. archibaldi, l. infantum and l. chagasi from major endemic regions of visceral leishmaniasis. population structures were inferred by com ... | 2007 | 17307010 |
| characterization of leishmania isolates from nepalese patients with visceral leishmaniasis. | in nepal, visceral leishmaniasis (vl) is endemic in 13 districts of the central and eastern regions. a total of 166 bone-marrow aspirates were obtained from patients with suspected vl. ninety-seven were identified as positive by microscopy, and 29 of those were successfully isolated and cultured. we characterized these isolates by molecular analysis and by their ability to infect mice. pcr-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of the mini-exon and the cysteine proteinase b gene showe ... | 2007 | 17310397 |
| comparative evaluation of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays based on crude and recombinant leishmanial antigens for serodiagnosis of symptomatic and asymptomatic leishmania infantum visceral infections in dogs. | the diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis remains difficult in rural areas where the disease is endemic, and serologic methods still need assessment, as they are not very sensitive for the detection of asymptomatic infectious dogs. here we present data on the development of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa)-based methods for the detection of antibodies against recombinant leishmanial antigens (namely, the recombinant k26 [rk26] and rk39 antigens from leishmania infantum and the ra2 protein ... | 2007 | 17314229 |
| venturamides a and b: antimalarial constituents of the panamanian marine cyanobacterium oscillatoria sp. | two new modified cyclic hexapeptides, venturamides a (1) and b (2), were isolated from the marine cyanobacterium oscillatoria sp. by antimalarial bioassay-guided fractionation. the isolation of 1 and 2 represents the first example of the identification of cyanobacterial peptides with selective antimalarial activity. the planar structures of 1 and 2 were determined by 1d and 2d nmr analyses and, in the case of venturamide a (1), comparison with the literature data for a previously reported synthe ... | 2007 | 17328572 |
| antiparasitic activity of some new caledonian medicinal plants. | twenty-nine extracts of 18 medicinal plants used in new caledonia by traditional healers to treat inflammation, fever and in cicatrizing remedies were evaluated in vitro against several parasites (leishmania donovani, trypanosoma brucei brucei, trichomonas vaginalis and caenorhabditis elegans). among the selected plants, scaevola balansae and premna serratifolia l. were the most active against leishmania donovani with ic(50) values between 5 and 10microg/ml. the almond and aril extracts from myr ... | 2007 | 17329051 |
| antipromastigote activity of the malabaricones of myristica malabarica (rampatri). | a major problem in the management of visceral leishmaniasis, especially in the indian subcontinent, is the growing unresponsiveness to conventional antimonial therapy, indicating the urgent need to identify new antileishmanial compounds. this study was undertaken to evaluate the antileishmanial activity of the fruit rind of myristica malabarica that is used as a spice and is also credited with medicinal properties. the antipromastigote activity of different extracts/fractions of m. malabarica an ... | 2007 | 17335115 |
| [construction and expression of recombinant eucaryotic expression plasmid of amastin gene of leishmania donovani]. | to construct recombinant eukaryotic expression plasmid of amastin gene of leishmania donovani and detect expression of the gene in nih3t3 cells. | 2007 | 17343786 |
| alteration of serum copper in kala-azar patients during sag therapy. | we conducted an analytic case-control study in kala-azar patients during sodium antimony gluconate (sag) therapy to assess the changes in serum copper. a total of 89 subjects were included in the study. diagnosed patients of kala-azar with parasitological evidence of leishmania donovani (ld) bodies in bone marrow, were selected as cases (n=54). they were selected from medicine and paediatric wards of mymensingh medical college hospital, mymensingh and nearby fulbaria upazila of mymensingh distri ... | 2007 | 17344788 |
| antileishmanial and antimalarial chalcones: synthesis, efficacy and cytotoxicity of pyridinyl and naphthalenyl analogs. | the antileishmanial and antimalarial activity of methoxy-substituted chalcones (1,3-diphenyl-2-propen-1-ones) is well established. the few analogs prepared to date where the 3-phenyl group is replaced by either a pyridine or naphthalene suggest these modifications are potency enhancing. to explore this hypothesis, sixteen 3-naphthalenyl-1-phenyl-2-prop-1-enones and ten 1-phenyl-3-pyridinyl-2-prop-1-enones were synthesized and their in vitro efficacies against leishmania donovani and plasmodium f ... | 2007 | 17348849 |
| antimonial treatment of visceral leishmaniasis: are current in vitro susceptibility assays adequate for prognosis of in vivo therapy outcome? | in most of the indian subcontinent, the first line treatment for visceral leishmaniasis (vl) is sodium stibogluconate (ssg), an antimonial drug, but the efficacy of the drug varies according to region. we aimed to characterize the in vitro antimony susceptibility of clinical isolates of nepalese vl patients, and to correlate this in vitro parasite phenotype to clinical therapy outcome. thirty-three clinical isolates of l. donovani were taken from patients with known disease history. these isolat ... | 2007 | 17350306 |
| in vitro and in vivo antileishmanial efficacy of a new nitrilquinoline against leishmania donovani. | the in vitro activity of a new analogue of 2-alkenylquinoline (2-nitrilquinoline or nq) against leishmania donovani was compared to oral reference drug miltefosine (hepc). ic(50) of nq was found at 38.6 microm against promastigotes and 2.4 microm against intramacrophage amastigotes. in vivo evaluation in the l. donovani balb/c mice model indicated that oral treatments at 12.5 and 25 mg/kg for 10 consecutive days significantly reduced the parasite burden in the liver by 68.9 and 68.5%, respective ... | 2007 | 17360145 |
| cross-protection against leishmania donovani but not l. braziliensis caused by vaccination with l. major soluble promastigote exogenous antigens in balb/c mice. | vaccinating with soluble leishmania major promastigote exogenous antigens (lmseags) protects mice against challenge with l. major. to explore the potential of lmseags to cross-protect against infection with other species of leishmania, balb/c mice were immunized with lmseags prior to challenge with either l. donovani or l. braziliensis promastigotes. such mice were protected against l. donovani but not l. braziliensis infection. leishmania braziliensis-infected mice developed lesions that were n ... | 2007 | 17360887 |
| proteophosphoglycan is differentially expressed in sodium stibogluconate-sensitive and resistant indian clinical isolates of leishmania donovani. | leishmania produce several types of mucin-like glycoproteins called proteophosphoglycans (ppgs) some of which are secreted while others are found on the surface of promastigotes and amastigotes. these proteins are thought to be important in the transmission, invasion and subsequent intracellular survival of parasites. the structure and function of ppgs are species and stage-specific in the case of l. major and l. mexicana, but no such information has hitherto been available for l. donovani. this ... | 2007 | 17362540 |
| visceral leishmaniasis with aplastic bonemarrow: coincidental or causal. | acquired aplastic anaemia (aaa) is caused by aetiologies ranging from infectious agents, chemical toxins, drugs, and autoimmune disorders. few reports exist which establish a causal association of parasites in aaa. causal association of leishmania donavani infection in aaa has not been reported to date. | 2007 | 17366060 |
| confocal microscopic investigation of tubulin distribution and effect of paclitaxel on posttranslationally modified tubulins in sodium arsenite resistant leishmania donovani. | the affinity of arsenic towards the cytoskeleton leading to disturbance of tubulin polymerization is well known. tubulin undergoes extensive posttranslational modifications which effect stability and dynamics of microtubules but little is known about the effect of antimicrotubule drugs on their distribution and function in kinetoplastid parasites such as leishmania. the current study was undertaken to investigate the effect of continuous sodium arsenite exposure on the tubulin distribution profi ... | 2007 | 17367783 |
| apoptosis is induced in leishmanial cells by a novel protein kinase inhibitor withaferin a and is facilitated by apoptotic topoisomerase i-dna complex. | protein kinase c (pkc) is an important constituent of the signaling pathways involved in apoptosis. we report here that like staurosporine, withaferin a is a potent inhibitor of pkc. in leishmania donovani, the inhibition of pkc by withaferin a causes depolarization of deltapsim and generates ros inside cells. loss of deltapsim leads to the release of cytochrome c into the cytosol and subsequently activates caspase-like proteases and oligonucleosomal dna cleavage. moreover, in treated cells, oxi ... | 2007 | 16841091 |
| interaction of sitamaquine with membrane lipids of leishmania donovani promastigotes. | sitamaquine is an 8-aminoquinoline which is active by the oral route for the treatment of life-threatening visceral leishmaniasis caused by leishmania donovani, with an ic50 of 29.2 microm against the promastigote form in vitro. at high concentration (100 microm), sitamaquine affected parasite motility, morphology and growth in a way that was only partially reversible. as a first approach to determine its mechanism of action, we describe the interaction of sitamaquine with parasite membrane comp ... | 2007 | 16945323 |
| spatial analysis of american visceral leishmaniasis in mato grosso do sul state, central brazil. | to map american visceral leishmaniasis (avl) in mato grosso do sul state (central brazil). | 2007 | 16979241 |
| cutaneous leishmaniasis, sri lanka. | cutaneous leishmaniasis (cl) is an emerging disease in sri lanka. of 116 patients with clinical symptoms suggestive of cl, 86 were confirmed positive for leishmania donovani. most patients had single dry lesions, usually on the face. patients were from 5 of the 7 agroclimatic zones in sri lanka. | 2007 | 18214182 |
| post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis with visceral leishmaniasis, or a rare presentation of visceral leishmaniasis with extensive skin manifestations. | 2007 | 18173544 | |
| [a case of antimony resistant kala-azar cured with amphotericin b]. | 2007 | 18038767 | |
| morphine-induced neuroimmunomodulation in murine visceral leishmaniasis: the role(s) of cytokines and nitric oxide. | opioid modulation of host resistance to infectious diseases is well documented; however, not much is known during visceral leishmaniasis (vl). low doses of morphine, administered subcutaneously in leishmania donovani-infected balb/c mice, on days 0 and +15, significantly (p < 0.05) suppressed (1 mg/kg/day) or even sterile-cleared (2 mg/kg/day) the infection; paradoxically, high doses (10 and 30 mg/kg/day) exacerbated the infection. in vitro, low concentration (1 x 10(-9) and 1 x 10(-11) m) morph ... | 2007 | 18040852 |
| a new strategy for elimination of kala-azar from rural bihar. | bihar state of india has been an endemic state for kala-azar. there has been many phases of ddt sprays for vector control. an outbreak of kala-azar occurred in goanpura, 6 km from patna, bihar, in 2003. we undertook this study with a new approach of kala-azar elimination in this village with priority to treatment of cases followed by supplementation with supervised ddt spray for vector control. | 2007 | 18160749 |
| effect of alkyl-lysophospholipids on some aspects of the metabolism of leishmania donovani. | alkyl-lysophospholipids (alps), developed initially to be antitumor agents, have proved highly effective in the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis, a disease caused by the species making up the protozoan complex leishmania donovani. although their effectiveness is known, the mode of action against this parasite is not completely understood. in the present work, we have studied the effect of 3 derivatives, edelfosine, miltefosine, and ilmofosine. using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy ('h ... | 2007 | 18163358 |
| identification of leishmania fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolase as a novel activator of host macrophage src homology 2 domain containing protein tyrosine phosphatase shp-1. | the macrophage protein tyrosine phosphatase-1 shp-1 has been implicated in the pathogenesis of infection with leishmania. to identify the factors that may interact with shp-1, leishmania donovani promastigote lysates were added to a gst-shp-1 affinity matrix. a 44kda specifically bound protein was identified as leishmania fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolase (aldolase). purified leishmania aldolase bound to shp-1 indicating that the interaction was direct. in contrast, purified mammalian aldolase ... | 2007 | 18028878 |
| non-coding pdna bearing immunostimulatory sequences co-entrapped with leishmanial antigens in cationic liposomes elicits almost complete protection against experimental visceral leishmaniasis in balb/c mice. | the difficulty in making successful vaccines against leishmaniasis is partly due to lack of an appropriate adjuvant. non-coding plasmid dna (pdna) bearing immunostimulatory sequences (iss) is a potent activator of innate immunity, and can thus act as an adjuvant with vaccine antigen. we therefore evaluated the efficacy of pdna and soluble leishmanial antigens (sla) to protect against challenge with leishmania donovani infection. we demonstrate that immunomodulatory activity of pdna, which potent ... | 2007 | 18031874 |
| deletion study of dna topoisomerase ib from leishmania donovani: searching for a minimal functional heterodimer. | the substantial differences between trypanosomal and leishmanial dna topoisomerase ib concerning to their homologues in mammals have provided a new lead in the study of the structural determinants that can be effectively targeted. leishmania donovani, the causative agent of visceral leishmaniasis, contains an unusual heterodimeric dna topoisomerase ib. the catalytically active enzyme consists of a large subunit (ldtopil), which contains the non-conserved n-terminal end and the phylogenetically c ... | 2007 | 18000548 |
| synthesis and biological evaluation of fluorescent leishmanicidal analogues of hexadecylphosphocholine (miltefosine) as probes of antiparasite mechanisms. | the leishmanicidal mechanism of miltefosine (hexadecylphosphocholine, mt) is not clearly understood. valuable insights into its mode of action could be obtained by fluorescence techniques, given suitably emitting analogues. in this regard, the synthesis and biological characterization of two fully competent mt fluorescent analogues is reported here: all-(e)-13-phenyltrideca-6,8,10,12-tetraenylphosphocholine (pte-mt) and all-(e)-13-phenyltrideca-8,10,12-trien-6-ynylphosphocholine (ptri-mt). both ... | 2007 | 17973359 |
| synthesis and in vitro protozoocidal evaluation of novel diazabicyclic tropolone derivatives. | the synthesis and in vitro antiparasitic activity of twenty-seven novel diazabicycles based on tropolone ethers is presented. the compounds can be readily prepared by means of a high-yielding hetero diels-alder reaction using simple and readily available starting materials. several of the new diazabicycles have in vitro activities against trypanosoma cruzi, leishmania donovani, trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense, and chloroquine-resistant plasmodium falciparum that are comparable or superior to thos ... | 2007 | 17924365 |
| visceral leishmaniasis: what are the needs for diagnosis, treatment and control? | visceral leishmaniasis (vl) is a systemic protozoan disease that is transmitted by phlebotomine sandflies. poor and neglected populations in east africa and the indian sub-continent are particularly affected. early and accurate diagnosis and treatment remain key components of vl control. in addition to improved diagnostic tests, accurate and simple tests are needed to identify treatment failures. miltefosine, paromomycin and liposomal amphotericin b are gradually replacing pentavalent antimonial ... | 2007 | 17938629 |
| nramp-1 expression modulates protein-tyrosine phosphatase activity in macrophages: impact on host cell signaling and functions. | nramp-1 (natural resistance-associated macrophage protein-1) has been associated with innate resistance to unrelated intracellular pathogen infections, up-regulation of proinflammatory phagocyte functions, and susceptibility to autoimmune diseases. it is still unclear how the divalent cation transport function of nramp-1 accounts for the associated pleiotropic effects. in this study, we evaluated the impact of murine macrophage nramp-1 expression on the activity of protein-tyrosine phosphatases ... | 2007 | 17942403 |
| use of a newly developed beta-mercaptoethanol enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to diagnose visceral leishmaniasis in patients in eastern sudan. | corroboration of serology results is essential for restricting the risk of inappropriate antileishmanial prescription. a direct agglutination test (dat) and a recently developed beta-mercaptoethanol-modified enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (beta-me elisa) based on the use of antigen prepared as described for the dat were applied to 416 sera from two sudanese populations with and without clinical evidence of visceral leishmaniasis (vl). of 285 sera with the lowest antileishmanial dat titers (</ ... | 2007 | 17942614 |
| synthesis and in vitro antiprotozoal activity of bisbenzofuran cations. | forty three cationic bisbenzofurans were synthesized either by interaction of o-hydroxyaldehydes with alpha-halogenated ketones followed by intramolecular ring closure or by a copper- or palladium-mediated heteroannulation of substituted o-iodophenols with terminal acetylenes. in vitro antiprotozoal activities of compounds 1-43 against trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense, plasmodium falciparum, and leishmania donovani and cytotoxicity against mammalian cells were influenced by the position and the ty ... | 2007 | 17948982 |
| synthesis and evaluation of antiparasitic activities of new 4-[5-(4-phenoxyphenyl)-2h-pyrazol-3-yl]morpholine derivatives. | a series of new 4-[5-(4-phenoxyphenyl)-2h-pyrazol-3-yl]morpholine derivatives, prepared by two synthetic routes, were in vitro assayed against three trypanosoma strains, leishmania donovani, and plasmodium falciparum k1. seven out of 17 compounds showed moderate to very good activity against blood stage t. b. rhodesiense, with 10 and 17 exhibiting highest potency (ic50 of 1.0 and 1.1 microm, respectively). interestingly, the beta-diketone precursors 1-3 had good antitrypanosomal activity toward ... | 2007 | 17949068 |
| hybrid cell vaccination resolves leishmania donovani infection by eliciting a strong cd8+ cytotoxic t-lymphocyte response with concomitant suppression of interleukin-10 (il-10) but not il-4 or il-13. | there is an acute dearth of therapeutic interventions against visceral leishmaniasis that is required to restore an established defective cell-mediated immune response. hence, formulation of effective immunotherapy requires the use of dominant antigen(s) targeted to elicit a specific antiparasitic cellular immune response. we implemented hybrid cell vaccination therapy in leishmania donovani-infected balb/c mice by electrofusing dominant leishmania antigen kinetoplastid membrane protein 11 (kmp- ... | 2007 | 17908806 |
| antileishmanial structure-activity relationships of synthetic phospholipids: in vitro and in vivo activities of selected derivatives. | antileishmanial activities of 91 synthetic phospholipids against leishmania donovani were evaluated in vitro and cytotoxicity assessed against two mammalian cell lines. promising compounds were tested further in vivo. in vitro structure-activity relationships showed a positive contribution of head groups bearing ring systems (n-methylpiperidino and n-methylmorpholino) to antileishmanial activity. | 2007 | 17908944 |
| il-10- and tgf-beta-mediated susceptibility in kala-azar and post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis: the significance of amphotericin b in the control of leishmania donovani infection in india. | visceral leishmaniasis (vl) or kala-azar is known to be associated with a mixed th1-th2 response, and effective host defense requires the induction of ifn-gamma and il-12. we address the role of the differential decline of il-10 and tgf-beta in response to sodium antimony gluconate (sag) and amphotericin b (amb), the therapeutic success of sag and amb in indian vl, and the significance of il-10 and tgf-beta in the development and progression of post-kazla-azar dermal leishmaniasis (pkdl). in the ... | 2007 | 17911647 |
| synthetic modification of manzamine a via grubbs metathesis. novel structures with enhanced antibacterial and antiprotozoal properties. | a strategy for the structural modification of biologically important alkene-containing natural products via ring-opening olefin metathesis is described. exposure of manzamine a 1 to the second-generation grubbs catalyst in the presence of ethylene leads to the formation of 2 and 4. the antibacterial activity of the novel manzamine analogue 2 (ic50=0.10 nm) against mycobacterium intracellulare is ca. 2-fold more potent than that of ciprofloxacin (ic50=0.18 nm), a drug that is frequently used agai ... | 2007 | 17918854 |
| antiprotozoal polyacetylenes from the tanzanian medicinal plant cussonia zimmermannii. | from the petroleum ether extract of the root bark of cussonia zimmermannii four polyacetylenes, 1- 4, were isolated, three of which ( 1- 3) were active against trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense, trypanosoma cruzi, plasmodium falciparum, and leishmania donovani. | 2007 | 17922552 |
| profile of fatal visceral leishmaniasis at an indian tertiary care center. | visceral leishmaniasis is a highly morbid and incapacitating infection, which usually presents with prolonged fever, weight loss and hepato-splenomegaly. despite the availability of effective treatment, the disease can have a high mortality even at referral centers. a case series of fatal visceral leishmaniasis, encountered during a prospective, two year period is presented. all the patients died due to multisystem organ failure. however, delayed diagnosis due to atypical manifestations was an i ... | 2007 | 17896607 |
| [leishmaniasis in rheumatoid arthritis]. | leishmaniasis represents a complex of diseases with an important clinical and epidemiological diversity. visceral leishmaniasis is of higher priority than cutaneous leishmaniasis as it is a fatal disease in the absence of treatment. the clinical spectrum of leishmaniasis and control of the infection are influenced by the parasite-host relationship. the role of cellular immune responses of the th1 type in the protection against disease in experimental and human leishmaniasis is well established. ... | 2007 | 17898884 |
| structural insights on the small subunit of dna topoisomerase i from the unicellular parasite leishmania donovani. | leishmania donovani, the causative organism of visceral leishmaniasis, contains a unique heterodimeric dna topoisomerase ib (ldtop1). the catalytically active enzyme consists of a large subunit (ldtop1l), which contains the non-conserved n-terminal end and a phylogenetically conserved core domain, and of a small subunit (ldtop1s) which harbours the c-terminal region with a characteristic tyrosine residue in the active site. heterologous co-expression of ldtop1l and ldtop1s in a topoisomerase i d ... | 2007 | 17900785 |
| structure-activity relationship of antileishmanials neolignan analogues. | twenty-two synthetic analogues of neolignans comprising beta-ketoethers and beta-ketosulfides were obtained from condensation reactions among beta-bromoketones and phenols or thiophenols, respectively, in basic solutions, and assayed in vitro for activity against intracellular leishmania amazonensis and leishmania donovani amastigotes, the causative agents of cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis. the highest selective activity was found for compounds with sulfur bridges, whereas beta-ketosulphox ... | 2007 | 17888668 |
| [comparative validation study between the elisa and rifi techniques for diagnosing leishmania sp in stray dogs caught in the municipality of campos de goytacazes, state of rio de janeiro]. | a survey was carried out aiming to verify the elisa test effectiveness for detecting antibodies against leishmania sp in dogs, comparing with rifi human pattern and for investigating sorological zoonosis situation in the microregion. an accordance about 97.6% considered strong was reported. | 2007 | 17876477 |
| trypanocidal and antileishmanial dihydrochelerythrine derivatives from garcinia lucida. | three benzo[ c]phenanthridine alkaloids have been isolated from the stem bark of garcinia lucida: dihydrochelerythrine ( 1), 6-acetonyldihydrochelerythrine ( 2), and its new derivative, ( s)1''-(9,10-dihydro-2',3'-dihydroxy-7,8-dimethoxy-10-methyl-1,2-benzophenanthridin-9-yl)propan-2''-one (lucidamine a) ( 3). the new diisoprenylated derivative of lucidamine b ( 4) was obtained by semisynthesis. these dihydrochelerythrine derivatives as well as the crude extract displayed attractive antiprotozoa ... | 2007 | 17880175 |
| use of rk39 for diagnosis of post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis in nepal. | a recently developed nitrocellulose-based dipstick test, rk39, has been widely used for the diagnosis of kala-azar. in this study, we evaluated its use for the diagnosis of post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (pkdl). we also investigated the time taken by patients to develop pkdl after apparent cure of kala-azar (visceral leishmaniasis, vl) and the time taken by patients to come to the hospital after the appearance of symptoms of pkdl. a majority of patients developed the disease within three ye ... | 2007 | 17882997 |
| epidemiological, clinical and therapeutic features of pediatric kala-azar. | kala-azar (visceral leishmaniasis) is endemic in southern iran. we retrospectively evaluated 367 infants and children with visceral leishmaniasis at hospitals affiliated to shiraz university of medical sciences in fars province (located in the southwestern part of iran). seasonal variation was observed with more cases presenting in late winter, spring and a few in summer. the predominant clinical features in these patients were chronic fever, pallor, weight loss, abdominal distention, and hepato ... | 2007 | 17882998 |
| inhibition of groups 1 and 2 cd1 molecules on human dendritic cells by leishmania species. | dendritic cells are potent immune-activating cells, which traditionally are thought of as presenters of protein antigen to lymphocytes to initiate an immune response. recently, another mechanism of immune surveillance, the detection of lipid antigens, has been found to be mediated by the nonpolymorphic family of cd1 molecules. there are two different cd1 families, group 1 consisting of cd1a, cd1b and cd1c, and group 2 consisting only of cd1d. leishmania donovani-infected dendritic cells have pre ... | 2007 | 17883454 |
| racemoside a, an anti-leishmanial, water-soluble, natural steroidal saponin, induces programmed cell death in leishmania donovani. | leishmaniasis remains a major health problem of the tropical and subtropical world. the visceral form causes the most fatalities if left untreated. dramatic increases in the rates of infection and drug resistance and the non-availability of safe vaccines have highlighted the need for identification of novel and inexpensive anti-leishmanial agents. this study reports that racemoside a, a water-soluble steroidal saponin purified from the fruits of asparagus racemosus, is a potent anti-leishmanial ... | 2007 | 17761483 |
| artemisinin triggers induction of cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis in leishmania donovani promastigotes. | a major impediment to effective anti-leishmanial chemotherapy is the emergence of drug resistance, especially to sodium antimony gluconate, the first-line treatment for leishmaniasis. artemisinin, a sesquiterpene lactone isolated from artemisia annua, is an established anti-malarial compound that showed anti-leishmanial activity in both promastigotes and amastigotes, with ic(50) values of 160 and 22 microm, respectively, and, importantly, was accompanied by a high safety index (>22-fold). the le ... | 2007 | 17761485 |
| chemical transformation and biological studies of marine sesquiterpene (s)-(+)-curcuphenol and its analogs. | chemical transformation studies of the marine sesquiterpene phenol (s)-(+)-curcuphenol (1), isolated from the jamaican sponges myrmekioderma styx, were accomplished. in order to optimize the activity and better understand the sar of (s)-(+)-curcuphenol, nineteen semisynthetic analogs were prepared and evaluated for activity against infectious diseases. a number of analogs showed significant activity against mtb and leishmania donovani, while showed good to moderate activities in antibacterial an ... | 2007 | 17804167 |
| wilson disease with visceral leishmaniasis: an extremely uncommon presentation. | visceral leishmaniasis (vl), which is caused by the protozoa leishmania donovani and transmitted by the bite of the female sand fly phlebotomus argentipes, is common in bihar, india. wilson disease is an autosomal recessive disorder of copper metabolism in which copper is deposited in the brain and liver. we report a case of an extremely uncommon combination of these diseases in a patient. treatment options for such a combination of diseases are limited and difficult. | 2007 | 17827379 |
| albumin-quercetin combination offers a therapeutic advantage in the prevention of reduced survival of erythrocytes in visceral leishmaniasis. | visceral leishmaniasis is associated with the reduced survival of erythrocytes, the cause of which remains to be fully explored. here, we described the mechanism underlying the shortened lifespan of erythrocytes in visceral leishmaniasis and proposed a combination therapy with quercetin and hamster serum albumin towards its rectification. decreased redox potential in erythrocytes followed by oxidative denaturation of hemoglobin and pathologic association of iron with the cell membrane facilitate ... | 2007 | 17644434 |
| evaluation of immune responses and protection induced by a2 and nucleoside hydrolase (nh) dna vaccines against leishmania chagasi and leishmania amazonensis experimental infections. | several antigens have been tested as vaccine candidates against leishmania infections but controversial results have been reported when different antigens are co-administered in combined vaccination protocols. immunization with a2 or nucleoside hydrolase (nh) antigens was previously shown to induce th1 immune responses and protection in balb/c mice against leishmania donovani and l. amazonensis (a2) or l. donovani and l. mexicana (nh) infections. in this work, we investigated the protective effi ... | 2007 | 17644455 |
| [cloning of avastin gene of leishmania donovani isolates from sichuan province and its expression in eucaryotic system]. | to clone and express the avastin gene of two leishmania donovani isolates from sichuan province of china. | 2007 | 17633823 |
| [differential diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis, progressive disseminated histoplasmosis and penicilliosis marneffei]. | visceral leishmaniasis, progressive disseminated histoplasmosis and penicilliosis marneffei are infections found in both human and animals. their clinical manifestations, morphology of the pathogens under microscope are similar. misdiagnosis was common and prognosis was poor when wrong therapy was given. this article is to introduce the epidemiology, clinical manifestation, laboratory findings and the treatment of these infections. | 2007 | 17639707 |
| biochemical characterization of leishmania major aquaglyceroporin lmaqp1: possible role in volume regulation and osmotaxis. | the leishmania major aquaglyceroporin, lmaqp1, is responsible for the transport of trivalent metalloids, arsenite and antimonite. we have earlier shown that downregulation of lmaqp1 provides resistance to trivalent antimony compounds whereas increased expression of lmaqp1 in drug-resistant parasites can reverse the resistance. in this paper we describe the biochemical characterization of lmaqp1. expression of lmaqp1 in xenopus oocytes rendered them permeable to water, glycerol, methylglyoxal, di ... | 2007 | 17640270 |
| [multiplex pcr for analysis of the plasmodium falciparum drug resistance molecular markers]. | to develop a multiplex pcr protocol for amplification of five plasmodium falciparum drug resistance related genes, thereby facilitate the rapid and high throughput analysis of the drug resistance molecular markers. | 2007 | 18441889 |
| the direct agglutination test as an alternative method for the diagnosis of canine and human visceral leishmaniasis. | visceral leishmaniasis is the most severe clinical form of leishmaniasis and is often fatal without proper treatment. therefore, early and accurate diagnosis is important, but often difficult in endemic areas. | 2007 | 18320110 |
| immunomodulatory role of arabinosylated lipoarabinomannan on leishmania donovani infected murine macrophages. | arabinosylated lipoarabinomannan (ara-lam), a surface glycolipid antigen isolated from avirulent mycobacterium smegmatis is involved in modulation of host cell signaling. in this study, we investigated ara-lam-mediated modulation of impaired immune responses during visceral leishmaniasis caused by protozoan parasite leishmania donovani. ara-lam treatment at dose of 3 microg/ml in l. donovani infected murine peritoneal macrophages as well as j774a.1 macrophage cell line exhibited a distinct up-re ... | 2007 | 18341212 |
| induction of host protective th1 immune response by chemokines in leishmania donovani-infected balb/c mice. | the resolution from leishmanial infection is dependent on the coordinated interactions between the components of the cell mediated immune system and the activation of t-cell population into appropriate cytokine production and the activation of macrophages. earlier reports established that c-c chemokines particularly macrophage inflammatory protein (mip)-1alpha and macrophage chemoattractant protein (mcp)-1 restrict the parasitic burden via the regulation of impaired protein kinase c (pkc) signal ... | 2007 | 18021365 |
| paradoxical drug sensitivity of leishmania donovani promastigotes: an in vitro study by agar elution and 96 well plate methods. | 2007 | 18697599 | |
| application of spatio-temporal scan statistics for the detection of areas with increased risk for american visceral leishmaniasis in the state of bahia, brazil. | mirroring the global increase of registered cases of american visceral leishmaniasis (avl), this infection has become a growing public health problem in brazil during the last several years. as the traditional approach to control employed by the governmental health agencies has failed to reduce the incidence and epidemic outbreaks of this illness, we propose a re-evaluation of the national strategy of intervention and monitoring. our thinking is based on a series of spatio-temporal scan statisti ... | 2007 | 18686261 |
| kala-azar (visceral leishmaniasis) from khotang. | kala-azar is a chronic infection of reticuloendothelial system caused by flagellated protozoan, leishmania donovani injected into human host by the bite of the sand fly (phlebotomous) previously infected by biting and sucking the blood of a patient of leishmaniasis. it is characterized by irregular fever of long duration, large spleen and liver, anaemia, leucopenia and progressive emaciation. this article reports a case of a 10 year old girl from khotang, a nonendemic zone for kala-azar, who pre ... | 2006 | 18603904 |
| nucleotide-sugar transporters: structure, function and roles in vivo. | the glycosylation of glycoconjugates and the biosynthesis of polysaccharides depend on nucleotide-sugars which are the substrates for glycosyltransferases. a large proportion of these enzymes are located within the lumen of the golgi apparatus as well as the endoplasmic reticulum, while many of the nucleotide-sugars are synthesized in the cytosol. thus, nucleotide-sugars are translocated from the cytosol to the lumen of the golgi apparatus and endoplasmic reticulum by multiple spanning domain pr ... | 2006 | 16981043 |
| inhibition of il-2 induced il-10 production as a principle of phase-specific immunotherapy. | leishmania donovani, a protozoan parasite, inflicts a fatal disease, visceral leishmaniasis. the suppression of antileishmanial t cell responses that characterizes the disease was proposed to be due to deficiency of a t cell growth factor, il-2. we demonstrate that during the first week after l. donovani infection, il-2 induces il-10 that suppresses the host-protective functions of t cells 14 days after infection. the observed suppression is concurrent with increased cd4+ glucocorticoid-induced ... | 2006 | 16982902 |
| transfusion medicine illustrated. electron micrographic study of the removal of leishmania from blood products by leukodepletion filters. | 2006 | 16533268 | |
| synthesis of oxysterols and nitrogenous sterols with antileishmanial and trypanocidal activities. | two sterol families have been synthesized: the first one is nitrogenous sterols containing amino, n-hydroxyimino or cyano group and the second one is oxysterols such as ketosterol and hydroxysterols. these compounds were then evaluated in vitro against leishmania donovani promastigotes and trypanosoma brucei brucei trypomastigotes. the most active compounds against l. donovani promastigotes were 7beta-aminomethylcholesterol and 7alpha,beta-aminocholesterol (ic50 in a range from 1 to 3 microm, pe ... | 2006 | 16949702 |
| phagocytosis of leishmania donovani amastigotes is rac1 dependent and occurs in the absence of nadph oxidase activation. | macrophages produce little superoxide during phagocytosis of leishmania donovani amastigotes. in this study, we characterized molecular events associated with l. donovani amastigotes uptake by mouse macrophages, to further define the mechanisms by which they are internalized without triggering superoxide production. using transient transfections, we first showed that internalization of l. donovani amastigotes is mediated by the gtpases rac1 and arf6, of which rac1 is recruited and retained on pa ... | 2006 | 16955522 |
| interaction between miltefosine and amphotericin b: consequences for their activities towards intestinal epithelial cells and leishmania donovani promastigotes in vitro. | the aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of a combination of two antileishmanial drugs, miltefosine (hepc) and amphotericin b (amb), when administered by the oral route. caco-2 cell monolayers were used as a validated in vitro model of the intestinal barrier and leishmania donovani promastigotes as a model for evaluating the effect of the drug combination. spectroscopic measurements demonstrated that hepc and amb associate, leading to the formation of mixed aggregates in which amb is ... | 2006 | 16966395 |
| testosterone attenuates p38 mapk pathway during leishmania donovani infection of macrophages. | leishmania donovani (l. donovani) is an obligatory intracellular pathogen that resides and multiplies in the macrophages and has been found to alter the signaling parameters of the host. testosterone plays a key role as signaling molecules in the regulation of parasite infections and could increase l. donovani infection of macrophages. the mitogen-activated protein kinases (mapks) pathway participates in the regulation of functions involved in parasite infection and host defense. in this work, t ... | 2006 | 16547729 |
| visceral leishmania donovani infection in interleukin-13-/- mice. | leishmania donovani-infected interleukin-13-/- balb/c mice showed impaired initial gamma interferon secretion and incomplete granuloma assembly at parasitized liver foci. nonetheless, control of early parasite replication, resolution of liver infection, and responsiveness to antileishmanial chemotherapy were intact. by itself, interleukin-13 does not appear to materially influence acquired resistance in this intracellular infection. | 2006 | 16552085 |
| a novel high-affinity arginine transporter from the human parasitic protozoan leishmania donovani. | we describe the first functional and molecular characterization of an amino acid permease (ldaap3) from the human parasitic protozoan leishmania donovani, the causative agent of visceral leishmaniasis in humans. this permease contains 480 amino acids with 11 predicted trans-membrane domains. expressing ldaap3 in saccharomyces cerevisiae mutants revealed that ldaap3 codes for a high-affinity arginine transporter (km 1.9 microm). ldaap3 is highly specific for arginine as its transport was not inhi ... | 2006 | 16556218 |
| acylated and deacylated saponins of quillaja saponaria mixture as adjuvants for the fml-vaccine against visceral leishmaniasis. | the adjuvant of the fml-vaccine against murine and canine visceral leishmaniasis, the riedel de haen saponin mixture, was fractionated by ion exchange chromatography on deae-cellulose to afford one tlc homogeneous quillaja saponaria molina qs21 saponin fraction (18.0%), a mixture of two deacylsaponins (19.4%), sucrose (39.9%), sucrose and glucose (19.7%), rutin (0.8%) and quercetin (2.2%), that were identified by comparison of 1h and 13c nmr spectroscopy. the qs21 shows the typical aldehyde grou ... | 2006 | 16556475 |
| effect of natural l- to d-amino acid conversion on the organization, membrane binding, and biological function of the antimicrobial peptides bombinins h. | antimicrobial peptides (amps) are evolutionarily old components of innate immunity found in all living pluricellular organisms. interestingly, some organisms express families of amps with only a slight variation among their members, possibly to increase their spectrum of activity. despite the growing body of knowledge about their biological activity and mode of action on bacteria, only a few of them have been tested on leishmania, a worldwide spread protozoan pathogen, and the parameters contrib ... | 2006 | 16566601 |
| antitrypanosomal and antileishmanial activities of flavonoids and their analogues: in vitro, in vivo, structure-activity relationship, and quantitative structure-activity relationship studies. | trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis are important parasitic diseases affecting millions of people in africa, asia, and south america. in a previous study, we identified several flavonoid glycosides as antiprotozoal principles from a turkish plant. here we surveyed a large set of flavonoid aglycones and glycosides, as well as a panel of other related compounds of phenolic and phenylpropanoid nature, for their in vitro activities against trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense, trypanosoma cruzi, and leishma ... | 2006 | 16569852 |
| treatment options for visceral leishmaniasis. | this review summarizes the current developments in therapy for visceral leishmaniasis. with the recent introduction of new drugs, the main limits in reducing deaths from visceral leishmaniasis are difficulty in diagnosis in the field and health inequality--patients lack of access to treatment. no new drugs are currently in the early stages of development. there are good reasons for the use of combination therapy; to prevent further development of resistance against the limited therapeutic option ... | 2006 | 16597201 |
| leishmania donovani singly deficient in hgprt, aprt or xprt are viable in vitro and within mammalian macrophages. | leishmania species express three phosphoribosyltransferase enzymes, hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (hgprt), adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (aprt), and xanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (xprt), which enable this genus to acquire purine nutrients from their hosts. to test whether any of these enzymes is essential for viability, transformation into amastigotes, and infectivity and proliferation within mammalian macrophages, deltahgprt, deltaaprt, and deltaxprt null mutants were ... | 2006 | 16597468 |
| leishmania donovani lipophosphoglycan blocks nadph oxidase assembly at the phagosome membrane. | phagocytosis of leishmania donovani promastigotes is characterized by an inhibition of phagolysosome biogenesis mediated by the surface glycolipid lipophosphoglycan (lpg). however, the consequences of this inhibition on macrophage function remain to be determined. in this study, we investigated the impact of lpg-mediated phagosome remodelling on the assembly and function of the nadph oxidase complex. phagocytosis of both wild-type and lpg-defective l. donovani promastigotes triggered the release ... | 2006 | 16848789 |
| synthesis of 16-mercaptohexadecylphosphocholine, a miltefosine analog with leishmanicidal activity. | the alkylphosphocholine miltefosine (n-hexadecylphosphocholine, mt) has been introduced recently as a very effective drug for the oral treatment of human leishmaniasis. however, the parasiticidal mechanism of mt at a molecular level is far from being understood. here we report the synthesis and biological characterization of 16-mercaptohexadecylphosphocholine, a thiol analog of mt which was designed to facilitate the search of mt interacting targets within the parasite by a variety of analytical ... | 2006 | 16870434 |
| manzamine b and e and ircinal a related alkaloids from an indonesian acanthostrongylophora sponge and their activity against infectious, tropical parasitic, and alzheimer's diseases. | four new manzamine-type alkaloids, 12,28-oxamanzamine e (2), 12,34-oxa-6-hydroxymanzamine e (3), 8-hydroxymanzamine b (5), and 12,28-oxaircinal a (11), were isolated from three collections of an indonesian sponge of the genus acanthostrongylophora together with 13 known manzamine alkaloids, ircinal a, ircinol a, xestomanzamine a, manzamines a, e, f, j, and y, manadomanzamines a and b, neo-kauluamine, 8-hydroxymanzamine a, and manzamine a n-oxide. the structures of the new compounds were elucidat ... | 2006 | 16872140 |
| anti-plasmodial and anti-leishmanial activity of conformationally restricted pentamidine congeners. | a library of 52 pentamidine congeners in which the flexible pentyldioxy linker in pentamidine was replaced with various restricted linkers was tested for in-vitro activity against two plasmodium falciparum strains and leishmania donovani. the tested compounds were generally more effective against p. falciparum than l. donovani. the most active compounds against the chloroquine-sensitive (d6, sierra leone) and -resistant (w2, indochina) strains of p. falciparum were bisbenzamidines linked with a ... | 2006 | 16872549 |
| endogenous interleukin-18 is involved in immunity to leishmania donovani but its absence does not adversely influence the therapeutic activity of sodium stibogluconate. | immunity to leishmania donovani is associated with an interleukin (il)-12 driven t helper 1 (th1) response. in addition, the ability to respond to chemotherapy with sodium stibogluconate (ssg) requires a fully competent immune response and both th1 and th2 responses have been shown to positively influence the outcome of drug treatment. in the present study, the influence of il-18, which can modulate both interferon (ifn)-gamma and il-4 production, on the outcome of primary l. donovani infection ... | 2006 | 16879623 |