Schistosomiasis Chemotherapy

• Published in: Angewandte Chemie Vol. 52; no. 31; pp. 7936 - 7956
• Main Authors: Thétiot-Laurent, Sophie A.-L., Boissier, Jérôme, Robert, Anne, Meunier, Bernard
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim WILEY-VCH Verlag 29-07-2013; WILEY‐VCH Verlag; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc; Wiley-VCH Verlag
• Edition: International ed. in English
• Subjects: Amino acids; Animals; artemisinin; Biodiversity and Ecology; Blood vessels; Chemotherapy; Contact; Drug Resistance; Drugs; Environmental Sciences; Fresh water; Hemeproteins - metabolism; Hemoglobins - metabolism; Humans; Imidazoles - therapeutic use; Lucanthone - analogs & derivatives; Lucanthone - chemistry; Lucanthone - therapeutic use; Malaria; Niacin - analogs & derivatives; Niacin - therapeutic use; Oxadiazoles - chemistry; Oxadiazoles - therapeutic use; Parasitic diseases; praziquantel; Praziquantel - pharmacology; Praziquantel - therapeutic use; Public health; Schistosoma; Schistosoma - drug effects; Schistosoma - growth & development; Schistosoma - metabolism; schistosomiasis; Schistosomiasis - drug therapy; Schistosomiasis - parasitology; trioxaquine; Tropical diseases; Vaccines; Africa; artemisinin; praziquantel; schistosomiasis; drugs; trioxaquine
• ISSN: 1433-7851; 0044-8249; 1521-3773; 1521-3757
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.201208390

After malaria, schistosomiasis (or bilharzia) is the second most prevalent disease in Africa, and is occurring in over 70 countries in tropical and subtropical regions. It is estimated that 600 million people are at risk of infection, 200 million people are infected, and at least 200 000 deaths per year are associated with the disease. All schistosome species are transmitted through contact with fresh water that is infested with free‐swimming forms of the parasite, which is known as cercariae and produced by snails. When located in the blood vessels of the host, larval and adult schistosomes digest red cells to acquire amino acids for growth and development. Vaccine candidates have been unsuccessful up to now. Against such devastating parasitic disease, the antischistosomal arsenal is currently limited to a single drug, praziquantel, which has been used for more than 35 years. Because the question of the reduction of the activity of praziquantel was raised recently, it is thus urgent to create new and safe antischistosomal drugs that should be combined with praziquantel to develop efficient bitherapies.
Bilharziasis (schistosomiasis) is the second most prevalent parasitic disease in Africa after malaria. The therapeutic arsenal against this disease is currently limited to a single drug, praziquantel, which has been used for 35 years. It is thus urgent to develop new antischistosomal drugs for efficient bi‐ or tri‐therapies in combination with praziquantel.