Bioactive Peptides against Human Apicomplexan Parasites
Apicomplexan parasites are the causal agents of different medically important diseases, such as toxoplasmosis, cryptosporidiosis, and malaria. Toxoplasmosis is considered a neglected parasitosis, even though it can cause severe cerebral complications and death in immunocompromised patients, includin...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Antibiotics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/11/11/1658 |
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| author | Norma Rivera-Fernández Jhony Anacleto-Santos Brenda Casarrubias-Tabarez Teresa de Jesús López-Pérez Marcela Rojas-Lemus Nelly López-Valdez Teresa I. Fortoul |
| author_facet | Norma Rivera-Fernández Jhony Anacleto-Santos Brenda Casarrubias-Tabarez Teresa de Jesús López-Pérez Marcela Rojas-Lemus Nelly López-Valdez Teresa I. Fortoul |
| author_sort | Norma Rivera-Fernández |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Apicomplexan parasites are the causal agents of different medically important diseases, such as toxoplasmosis, cryptosporidiosis, and malaria. Toxoplasmosis is considered a neglected parasitosis, even though it can cause severe cerebral complications and death in immunocompromised patients, including children and pregnant women. Drugs against <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i>, the etiological agent of toxoplasmosis, are highly toxic and lack efficacy in eradicating tissue cysts, promoting the establishment of latent infection and acute relapsing disease. Cryptosporidiosis has been recognized as the most frequent waterborne parasitosis in US outbreaks; anti-cryptosporidium drug discovery still faces a major obstacle: drugs that can act on the epicellular parasite. Severe malaria is most commonly caused by the progression of infection with <i>Plasmodium falciparum</i>. In recent years, great progress has been made in the field of antimalarial drugs and vaccines, although the resistance of <i>P. falciparum</i> to artemisinin has recently gained a foothold in Africa. As seen, the search for new drugs against these parasites remains a challenge. Peptide-based drugs seem to be attractive alternative therapeutic agents recently recognized by the pharmaceutical industry, as they can kill different infectious agents and modulate the immune response. A review of the experimental effects of bioactive peptides on these parasites follows, along with comments. In addition, some biological and metabolomic generalities of the parasites are reviewed to elucidate peptide mechanisms of action on Apicomplexan targets. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T18:31:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-57e4a5de31e546e082c0fa7e9d404bc3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-6382 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T18:31:10Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Antibiotics |
| spelling | doaj.art-57e4a5de31e546e082c0fa7e9d404bc32023-11-24T07:31:24ZengMDPI AGAntibiotics2079-63822022-11-011111165810.3390/antibiotics11111658Bioactive Peptides against Human Apicomplexan ParasitesNorma Rivera-Fernández0Jhony Anacleto-Santos1Brenda Casarrubias-Tabarez2Teresa de Jesús López-Pérez3Marcela Rojas-Lemus4Nelly López-Valdez5Teresa I. Fortoul6Departamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City 04510, MexicoDepartamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City 04510, MexicoDepartamento de Biología Celular y Tisular, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City 04510, MexicoDepartamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City 04510, MexicoDepartamento de Biología Celular y Tisular, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City 04510, MexicoDepartamento de Biología Celular y Tisular, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City 04510, MexicoDepartamento de Biología Celular y Tisular, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City 04510, MexicoApicomplexan parasites are the causal agents of different medically important diseases, such as toxoplasmosis, cryptosporidiosis, and malaria. Toxoplasmosis is considered a neglected parasitosis, even though it can cause severe cerebral complications and death in immunocompromised patients, including children and pregnant women. Drugs against <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i>, the etiological agent of toxoplasmosis, are highly toxic and lack efficacy in eradicating tissue cysts, promoting the establishment of latent infection and acute relapsing disease. Cryptosporidiosis has been recognized as the most frequent waterborne parasitosis in US outbreaks; anti-cryptosporidium drug discovery still faces a major obstacle: drugs that can act on the epicellular parasite. Severe malaria is most commonly caused by the progression of infection with <i>Plasmodium falciparum</i>. In recent years, great progress has been made in the field of antimalarial drugs and vaccines, although the resistance of <i>P. falciparum</i> to artemisinin has recently gained a foothold in Africa. As seen, the search for new drugs against these parasites remains a challenge. Peptide-based drugs seem to be attractive alternative therapeutic agents recently recognized by the pharmaceutical industry, as they can kill different infectious agents and modulate the immune response. A review of the experimental effects of bioactive peptides on these parasites follows, along with comments. In addition, some biological and metabolomic generalities of the parasites are reviewed to elucidate peptide mechanisms of action on Apicomplexan targets.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/11/11/1658Apicomplexanbioactive peptidestoxoplasmosiscryptosporidiosismalaria |
| spellingShingle | Norma Rivera-Fernández Jhony Anacleto-Santos Brenda Casarrubias-Tabarez Teresa de Jesús López-Pérez Marcela Rojas-Lemus Nelly López-Valdez Teresa I. Fortoul Bioactive Peptides against Human Apicomplexan Parasites Antibiotics Apicomplexan bioactive peptides toxoplasmosis cryptosporidiosis malaria |
| title | Bioactive Peptides against Human Apicomplexan Parasites |
| title_full | Bioactive Peptides against Human Apicomplexan Parasites |
| title_fullStr | Bioactive Peptides against Human Apicomplexan Parasites |
| title_full_unstemmed | Bioactive Peptides against Human Apicomplexan Parasites |
| title_short | Bioactive Peptides against Human Apicomplexan Parasites |
| title_sort | bioactive peptides against human apicomplexan parasites |
| topic | Apicomplexan bioactive peptides toxoplasmosis cryptosporidiosis malaria |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/11/11/1658 |
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