Feb, 2005
Potent plasmodicidal activity of a heat-induced reformulation of deoxycholate-amphotericin B (Fungizone) against Plasmodium falciparum.
Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy
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- Volume
- 49
- Number
- 2
- First page
- 493
- Last page
- 6
- Language
- English
- Publishing type
- Research paper (scientific journal)
The emergence and spread of drug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum continue to pose problems in malaria chemotherapy. Therefore, it is necessary to identify new antimalarial drugs and therapeutic strategies. In the present study, the activity of a heat-treated form of amphotericin B (HT-AMB) against P. falciparum was evaluated. The efficacy and toxicity of HT-AMB were also compared with those of the standard formulation (AMB). HT-AMB showed significant activity against a chloroquine-resistant strain (strain K-1) and a chloroquine-susceptible strain (strain FCR-3) in vitro. The 50% inhibitory concentrations of HT-AMB were 0.32 +/- 0.03 mug/ml for strain K-1 and 0.33 +/- 0.03 mug/ml for strain FCR-3. In the presence of 1.0 mug of HT-AMB per ml, only pyknotic parasites were observed after 24 h of incubation of early trophozoites (ring forms). However, when late trophozoites and schizonts were cultured with 1.0 mug of HT-AMB per ml, those forms multiplied to ring forms but the number of infected erythrocytes did not increase. These results indicate that HT-AMB possesses potent antiplasmodial activity and that the drug is more effective against the ring-form stage than against the late trophozoite and schizont stages. HT-AMB was observed to have little cytotoxic effect against a human liver cell line (Chang liver cells). In conclusion, the results suggest that HT-AMB has promising properties and merits further in vivo investigations as a treatment for falciparum malaria.
- Link information
- ID information
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- ISSN : 0066-4804
- Pubmed ID : 15673723
- Pubmed Central ID : PMC547284