Leishmaniasis and Chagas disease chemotherapy: a critical review

Abstract

Leishmaniasis and Chagas disease, caused by the kinetoplastid parasites Leishmania spp and Trypanosoma cruzi, respectively, are among the most important parasitic diseases, affecting millions of people and considered to be within the most relevant group of neglected tropical diseases. Chemotherapy is the main alternative to control such parasites, nevertheless, current treatments are far from satisfactory. This review outlines the current understanding on different drugs against leishmaniasis and Chagas disease and their mechanism of action. Recent approaches in the area of anti-leishmanial and trypanocidal therapies are also enumerated, as well as the search for new drugs.