Antileishmanial Drug Discovery and Resistance Mechanisms
This community focuses on developing treatments and understanding resistance in leishmaniasis, a group of parasitic diseases affecting humans and animals.
The research centers on evaluating antileishmanial drugs, including meglumine antimoniate and sodium stibogluconate, against species such as Leishmania infantum, L. donovani, and L. major. Significant effort is directed at addressing antimony resistance and treatment failure in both cutaneous and visceral forms of the disease. Methods include in vitro and in vivo efficacy testing, molecular docking, and the synthesis of new chemical derivatives. The work also addresses related kinetoplastid parasites, such as Trypanosoma cruzi, and explores drug discovery pipelines to overcome existing therapeutic limitations.
The largest share of the community's output is found in antimony research, representing 2.3% of all antimony research, with 967 papers in this group.
The community comprises 5,706 papers, publishing primarily in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, and the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
Recent work includes a systematic review of drug efficacy and safety for leishmaniasis, studies on genomic profiles of drug resistance in Leishmania infantum, and investigations into nanoformulation-based transdermal drug delivery for zoonotic diseases.