Open AccessIn Vitro Susceptibility to Miltefosine of Leishmania infantum (syn. L. chagasi) Isolates from Different Geographical Areas in Brazil
Author(s) -
Caroline R. Espada,
Erica Valadares de Castro Levatti,
Mariana Côrtes Boité,
Dorcas Lamounier,
Jorge Alvar,
Elisa Cupolillo,
Carlos Henrique Nery Costa,
Joelle Rode,
Sílvia Reni Bortolin Uliana
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
microorganisms
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.858
H-Index - 17
ISSN - 2076-2607
DOI - 10.3390/microorganisms9061228
Subject(s) - miltefosine , leishmania infantum , meglumine antimoniate , amastigote , visceral leishmaniasis , leishmaniasis , biology , leishmania , microbiology and biotechnology , pharmacology , immunology , parasite hosting , world wide web , computer science
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 EC 50 for miltefosine of 13 of these strains evaluated in intracellular amastigotes varied between 1.41 and 4.57 μM. The EC 50 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.