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Updated: Mar 17, 2026

In Vitro Drug Screening Against All Life Cycle Stages of Trypanosoma cruzi Using Parasites Expressing β-galactosidase
Published on: November 5, 2021
The characterization of anti-T. cruzi activity relationships between ferrocenyl, cyrhetrenyl complexes and ROS
César Echeverría1,2, Valentina Romero1, Rodrigo Arancibia3
1Laboratorio de Bionanotecnología, Universidad Bernardo O Higgins, General Gana 1780, Santiago, Chile.
Abstract:
Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi) is the parasite that causes Chagas disease. Nifurtimox is the most used drug against the T. cruzi, this drug increases intermediaries nitro group, being mainly responsible for the high toxicity component, for this reason it is important to study new organic compounds and thus improve therapeutic strategies against Chagas disease. The electronic effects of ferrocenyl and cyrhetrenyl fragments were investigated by DFT calculation. A close correlation was found between HOMO-LUMO gap of nitro radical NO 2 (-) with the experimental reduction potential found for nitro group and IC50 of two forms the T. cruzi (epimastigote and trypomastigote). The IC50 on human hepatoma cells is higher for both compounds compared to IC50 demonstrated in the two forms the T. cruzi, and additionally show reactive oxygen species release. The information obtained in this paper could generate two new drugs with anti-T. cruzi activity, but additional studies are needed.
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