Nelfinavir and lopinavir impair Trypanosoma cruzi trypomastigote infection in mammalian host cells and show anti-amastigote activity.

Leandro S Sangenito, Claudia M d'Avila-Levy, Marta H Branquinha, André L S Santos

International journal of antimicrobial agents 2016 Dec

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There is an urgent need to implement new strategies and to search for new chemotherapeutic targets to combat Chagas' disease. In this context, repositioning of clinically approved drugs appears as a viable tool to combat this and several other neglected pathologies. An example is the use of aspartic peptidase inhibitors (PIs) currently applied in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) treatment against different infectious agents. Therefore, the main objective of this work was to verify the effects of the HIV-PIs nelfinavir and lopinavir against Trypanosoma cruzi using in vitro models of infection. Cytotoxicity assays with LLC-MK2 epithelial cells and RAW macrophages allowed an evaluation of the effects of HIV-PIs on the interaction between trypomastigotes and these cells as well as the survival of intracellular amastigotes. Pre-treatment of trypomastigotes with nelfinavir and lopinavir inhibited the association index with LLC-MK2 cells and RAW macrophages in a dose- and time-dependent manner. In addition, nelfinavir and lopinavir also significantly reduced the number of intracellular amastigotes in both mammalian cell lineages, particularly when administered in daily doses. Both compounds had no effect on nitric oxide production in infected RAW macrophages. These results open the possibility for the use of HIV-PIs as a tangible alternative in the treatment of Chagas' disease. However, the main mechanism of action of nelfinavir and lopinavir has yet to be elucidated, and more studies using in vivo models must be conducted. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. and International Society of Chemotherapy. All rights reserved.

Citation

Leandro S Sangenito, Claudia M d'Avila-Levy, Marta H Branquinha, André L S Santos. Nelfinavir and lopinavir impair Trypanosoma cruzi trypomastigote infection in mammalian host cells and show anti-amastigote activity. International journal of antimicrobial agents. 2016 Dec;48(6):703-711