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Updated: Mar 6, 2026
In Vitro Drug Screening Against All Life Cycle Stages of Trypanosoma cruzi Using Parasites Expressing β-galactosidase
Published on: November 5, 2021
Trypanothione Reductase: A Target for the Development of Anti- Trypanosoma cruzi Drugs
Karina Vázquez1, Margot Paulino2, Cristian O Salas3
1Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Escobedo, 66050, Mexico.
Background & Objective:
Chagas disease or American trypanosomiasis is a major parasitic disease in Latin America with restricted available treatment: nifurtimox and benznidazole. These two drugs are ineffective in the chronic phase of the disease; therefore, there is a need for the development of new, efficient and safe drugs for the treatment of this pathology. With this goal, one of the promising targets is trypanothione reductase (TR), a key enzyme in the metabolism of Trypanosoma cruzi.
Conclusion:
In this review, we analyse the importance of TR as a drug target, as well as the well-known and new inhibitors reported in the last decade as potential therapeutic agents for Chagas disease.
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