Drug Discovery and Development for Soil-Transmitted Helminthiasis: Current Anthelmentics and Compounds in the Pipeline

Author:

Tewelde Eyael,Tadesse Solomon

Abstract

Soil-transmitted helminthiasis (STH), one of 20 neglected tropical diseases, afflicts about a quarter of the world’s population. A handful of medications, albendazole, mebendazole, pyrantel pamoate, levamisole, and ivermectin, have long constituted the cornerstone of therapy for these infections in both humans and animals. The continuous and long-term reliance on these small range of compounds has led to the emergence of drug resistance in many helminthic strains in animals. The threat of resistance also seems inevitable in humans thereby hampering the World Health Organization’s efforts to control or eradicate these neglected tropical illnesses. Hence, there is an urgent need for the discovery and development of new treatment options with broad spectrum activity against various helmintic infections that act via novel mechanisms of action. Different strategies are employed in this endeavor which include the identification of promising compounds from natural and synthetic origin, drug repurposing and modification of existing drugs, and vaccine development. The prospect of a “pan-anthelmintic vaccine” also seems encouraging, despite the various obstacles facing the development of vaccines. Here we discuss drug discovery and development efforts for STH.

Publisher

IntechOpen

Reference106 articles.

1. Castro GA. Helminths: Structure, classification, growth, and development. In: Baron S, editor. Medical Microbiology. 4th ed. Galveston (TX): University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston; 1996. Chapter 86. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK8282/

2. Wakelin D. Helminths: Pathogenesis and defenses. In: Baron S, editor. Medical Microbiology. 4th ed. Galveston (TX): University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston; 1996. Chapter 87. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK8191/

3. Postigo I, Guisantes JA, Martínez J. Is there a link between environmental allergens and parasitism? In: Kon K, Rai M, editors. The Microbiology of Respiratory System Infections. London, UK: Academic Press; 2016. pp. 113-124

4. Husain MA, Scheibel LW. Anthelmintic drugs. In: Craig CR, Stitzel RE, editors. Modern Pharmacology with Clinical Applications. 5th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2004. pp. 348-354

5. World Health Organization. Guideline: Preventive Chemotherapy to Control Soil-Transmitted Helminth Infections in At-Risk Population Groups. Geneva, Swizerland: World Health Organization; 2017

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3