Topical Drug Treatment of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis

利什曼原虫属寄生虫是利什曼病的病原体。 它的特征是一系列的临床表现，从溃烂的皮肤病变到致命的 内脏感染。利什曼病是一种与贫困相关的疾病，与营养不良有关， 流离失所、住房条件差、文盲、性别歧视、免疫系统薄弱和缺乏 资源。利什曼病因出现与人类的混合感染而进一步恶化 流行地区的免疫缺陷病毒(HIV)。在全球范围内，估计有150-200万新病例 每年有8万人死于利什曼病，3.5亿人面临感染和疾病的风险。在……里面 缺乏疫苗接种、化疗以及病媒控制，仍然是最重要的因素之一。 控制利什曼病的要素。然而，这一战略受到高毒性的严重威胁。 临床药物的增加和领域中耐药性的猖獗增加。因为利什曼病是一种 贫穷，制药公司在寻找新的抗利什曼病药物方面的动机有限 因为他们的投资会有很低的经济回报。 此SBIR应用程序的目标是开发一种负担得起且有效的抗利什曼软膏 在世界发达和发展中地区治疗皮肤利什曼病(CL)。我们的团队 最近发现锌(II)-二吡啶甲胺(ZnDPA)络合物具有很强的抗利什曼活性 对CL的病原体之一的主要利什曼原虫。分子靶向技术公司将 开发锌DPA的软膏配方，圣母大学的团队将对这些配方进行测试 在利用转基因主要乳杆菌菌株的CL体内模型中使用软膏 稳定表达红色荧光mCherry蛋白。此外，拟议的皮肤毒性和 锌DPA的生物分布对成功的临床翻译具有重要意义。

Protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania are the causative agents of leishmaniasis, a disease that is characterized by a spectrum of clinical manifestations ranging from ulcerative skin lesions to fatal visceral infections. Leishmaniasis is a poverty-related disease and is associated with malnutrition, displacement, poor housing, illiteracy, gender discrimination, weakness of the immune system and lack of resources. Leishmaniasis is further compromised by the emergence of co-infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in endemic areas. Globally, there are an estimated 1.5–2 million new cases of leishmaniasis and 80,000 deaths each year, and 350 million people are at risk of infection and disease. In the absence of vaccination, chemotherapy, together with vector control, remains one of the most important elements in the control of leishmaniasis. However, this strategy is seriously threatened by the high toxicity of clinical drugs and the rampant increase of resistance in the field. As leishmaniasis is a disease of poverty, pharmaceutical companies have had limited incentive for the search of novel anti-leishmanial drugs because there would be low economic return on their investment. The goal of this SBIR application is to develop an affordable and effective antileishmanial ointment for treating cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in both developed and developing areas of the world. Our team recently discovered that zinc(II)-dipicolylamine (ZnDPA) complexes have strong antileishmanial activity against Leishmania major one of the causative agents of CL. Molecular Targeting Technologies Inc. will develop ointment formulations of ZnDPA and the team at the University of Notre Dame will test these ointments in an in vivo model of CL that takes advantage of a genetically modified L. major strain which stably express a red fluorescent mCherry protein. Furthermore, the proposed studies on skin toxicity and biodistribution of ZnDPA will be significant for a successful clinical translation.