Hemphill A, Müller J
Institute of Parasitology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland.
J Helminthol. 2009 Jun;83(2):99-111. doi: 10.1017/S0022149X0928936X. Epub 2009 Mar 19.
Echinococcus granulosus and Echinococcus multilocularis are cestode parasites, of which the metacestode (larval) stages cause the neglected diseases cystic echinococcosis (CE) and alveolar echinococcosis (AE), respectively. The benzimidazoles albendazole and mebendazole are presently used for the chemotherapeutical treatment, alone or prior to and after surgery. However, in AE these benzimidazoles do not appear to be parasiticidal in vivo. In addition, failures in drug treatments as well as the occurrence of side-effects have been reported, leading to discontinuation of treatment or to progressive disease. Therefore, new drugs are needed to cure AE and CE. Strategies that are currently employed in order to identify novel chemotherapeutical treatment options include in vitro and in vivo testing of broad-spectrum anti-infective drugs or drugs that interfere with unlimited proliferation of cancer cells. The fact that the genome of E. multilocularis has recently been sequenced has opened other avenues, such as the selection of novel drugs that interfere with the parasite signalling machinery, and the application of in silico approaches by employing the Echinococcus genome information to search for suitable targets for compounds of known mode of action.
细粒棘球绦虫和多房棘球绦虫是绦虫寄生虫，其中间型绦虫（幼虫）阶段分别导致被忽视的疾病——囊型包虫病（CE）和泡型包虫病（AE）。苯并咪唑类药物阿苯达唑和甲苯达唑目前用于化疗，单独使用或在手术前后使用。然而，在AE中，这些苯并咪唑类药物在体内似乎没有杀寄生虫作用。此外，已有报道称药物治疗失败以及出现副作用，导致治疗中断或病情进展。因此，需要新药来治愈AE和CE。目前为确定新的化疗治疗方案所采用的策略包括对广谱抗感染药物或干扰癌细胞无限增殖的药物进行体外和体内测试。多房棘球绦虫的基因组最近已被测序，这一事实开辟了其他途径，例如选择干扰寄生虫信号传导机制的新药，以及通过利用棘球绦虫基因组信息采用计算机方法来寻找已知作用模式化合物的合适靶点。
