[Antiparasitic activity of Cis-Pt (II) pentamidine in experimental trypanosomiasis of sheep caused by Trypanosoma brucei brucei].

The failure of trypanocidal therapeutics have made it a duty to use other classes of molecules which show a comparable trypanocidal efficacy with well-known medicines. In this study, the authors have evaluated the trypanocidal activity of a Cis-Platinum (II) salt, DNA-intercalating medicine used in antineoplastic therapeutics, associated with pentamidine: Cis-Pt (II) pentamidine. After primary screenings on a murine model of T. brucei brucei, Cis-Pt (II) pentamidine was evaluated on an experimental sheep trypanosomiasis model, standardized by the Institute of Neurological Epidemiology and Tropical Neurology of Limoges (France). Cis-Pt (II) pentamidine was able to cure infected mice, without relapse, after a single subcutaneous injection of 12.5 mg.kg-1 body weight. In sheep trypanosomiasis, the same treatment was used successfully during the first stage of infection. Neurological stage susceptibility and pharmacokinetics in sheep will be evaluated in a further study.