Article
In Vitro Susceptibility to Miltefosine of Leishmania infantum (syn. L. chagasi) Isolates from Different Geographical Areas in Brazil
Registro en:
ESPADA, Caroline Ricce et al. In Vitro Susceptibility to Miltefosine of Leishmania infantum (syn. L. chagasi) Isolates from Different Geographical Areas in Brazil. Microorganisms, v. 9, n. 1228, 15 p, 2021.
2076-2607
10.3390/microorganisms9061228
Autor
Espada, Caroline Ricce
Levatti, Erica V. de Castro
Boité, Mariana Côrtes
Lamounier, Dorcas
Alvar, Jorge
Cupolillo, Elisa
Costa, Carlos Henrique Nery
Rodde, Joelle
Uliana, Silvia R. B.
Resumen
Abstract: Treatment of visceral leishmaniasis in Brazil still relies on meglumine antimoniate, with
less than ideal efficacy and safety, making new therapeutic tools an urgent need. The oral drug
miltefosine was assayed in a phase II clinical trial in Brazil with cure rates lower than previously
demonstrated in India. The present study investigated the susceptibility to miltefosine in 73 Brazilian
strains of Leishmania infantum from different geographic regions, using intracellular amastigote
and promastigote assays. The EC50 for miltefosine of 13 of these strains evaluated in intracellular
amastigotes varied between 1.41 and 4.57 µM. The EC50 of the 73 strains determined in promastigotes
varied between 5.89 and 23.7 µM. No correlation between in vitro miltefosine susceptibility and the
presence of the miltefosine sensitive locus was detected among the tested strains. The relatively low
heterogeneity in miltefosine susceptibility observed for the 73 strains tested in this study suggests
the absence of decreased susceptibility to miltefosine in Brazilian L. infantum and does not exclude
future clinical evaluation of miltefosine for VL treatment in Brazil.