After testing three million drug compounds, researchers are reporting the discovery of a drug that targets related parasites responsible for three deadly infections that affect millions of people worldwide, according to a BBC report.
While drugs exist to combat the trio of parasites — Trypanosoma brucei, Trypanosoma cruzi, and Leishmania — they are often toxic to the patient, expensive and impractical for use in poor populations where the infections most commonly strike.
The three infections the new drug combats are:
- African trypanosomiasis, or African sleeping sickness, which is spread through tsetse flies, causes high fever, headaches and muscle aches. If untreated, it can cause coma and eventually death.
- Chagas disease, or American trypanosomiasis, is spread through a "kissing" bug. It can trigger a variety of symptoms, including fever, fatigue, diarrhea and vomiting. About a third of infected individuals will develop severe symptoms later in life, such as heart conditions.
- Leishmaniasis, is a deadly infection spread through sandfly bites. The parasite attacks whichever part of the body is bitten, causing sores and affecting internal organ function.
After testing millions of compounds, the researchers made hundreds of thousands of modifications to make the original drug more potent. When administered to mice infected with each of the parasites, the new drug eradicated the bugs.
"There's been very little incentive to spend a lot of money on these diseases as they affect a very poor, and yet large, population," Elmarie Myburgh, PhD, a study author from the University of York in the U.K., told the BBC. "What makes it special is the fact it is targeting all three parasites. That's the first time it has been done, so it is quite special."
The researchers are performing further tests on the new drug to ensure its safety before beginning human trials.
The research is published in Nature.