New Uses for Old Drugs and Their Application in Helminthology

Abstract

Parasitic infection research, performed on both humans and domestic animals, has been mostly focused on vaccines, diagnostic methods, epidemiology, and the evolutionary origins of parasites, thanks to the emergence of genomics and proteomics. However, the basic biology of the host-parasite interactions of several medical or veterinary important parasites has not been fully studied. Limited information has been obtained on the intricate neuroimmunoendocrine effects of host-parasite interplay in particular; therefore, the consequences of these interactions, and their possible therapeutic applications, are in need of thorough research. The current manuscript attempts to review the available literature regarding the host-parasite neuroimmunoendocrine network and to discuss how this basic research can be used to design new treatments using hormones, antihormones, and hormone analogs as a novel therapy against parasitic diseases. In addition, these studies may also contribute in identifying alternative treatments for parasitic diseases in the future. The complex immune-endocrine network may also help in explaining the frequently conflicting results observed in infections with regards to host sex and age and offer helpful insight into other research avenues besides parasite treatment and control strategies. Finally, several natural products isolated from plants, used in traditional medicine, offer an alternative approach for natural products in the preparation of inexpensive and effective antiparasitic drugs.