Novel Treatment Approaches to Combat Trichomoniasis, a Neglected and Sexually Transmitted Infection Caused by Trichomonas vaginalis: Translational Perspectives

Abstract

The multistep translational science behind new drugs comprehends the entire process through laboratory, clinical, and community observations turned into health interventions. The development of new drug options from discovering targets and leading compounds in basic research for implementing therapeutic guidelines contributes to the emergence of health policies essential for infection control. This review updates the translational research in the scenario of the most common non-viral sexually transmitted infection (STI), trichomoniasis. Paradoxically to its high occurrence, it is considered neglected since notification is not mandatory. It turns into a stable disease with health complications, and receives little emphasis from public health programs to control STI. Although related to curable STIs, the current drugs, metronidazole and tinidazole, present therapeutic failures. The need for new options to treat trichomoniasis is established by basic research studies and patents revealing novel synthetic compounds and natural products presenting anti-Trichomonas vaginalis activities, mainly based on in vitro findings. Clinical trials are still focused on new routes of administration for conventional drugs. In addition, nanotechnology approaches are in their infancy, shedding light on potential possibilities for creating more effective, targeted, and safe delivery systems. Overall, the novel proposed approaches need, in addition to pharmaceutical development and efficacy assessments, to ensure that the quality requirements for their use as medicines are met. It is essential to overcome these issues to cross the “Death Valley” of drug discovery and to advance in the translational science criteria in the trichomoniasis drug development field.