Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Technology-Warangal, Warangal, Telangana, 506004, India.
Parasitol Res. 2020 Jul;119(7):2025-2037. doi: 10.1007/s00436-020-06736-x. Epub 2020 Jun 5.
Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease with no effective vaccines to date. Globally, it affects around 14 million people living in undeveloped and developing countries. Leishmania, which is the causative eukaryotic organism, possesses unique enzymes and pathways that deviates from its mammalian hosts. The control strategy against leishmaniasis currently depends on chemotherapeutic methods. But these chemotherapeutic therapies possess several side effects, and therefore, the identification of potential drug targets has become very crucial. Identification of suitable drug targets is necessary to design specific inhibitors that can target and control the parasite. These unique enzymes can be used as possible drug targets after biochemical characterization and understanding the role of these enzymes. In this review, the authors discuss various metabolic pathways that are essential for the survival of the parasite and can be exploited as potential drug targets against leishmaniasis.
利什曼病是一种被忽视的热带病，目前尚无有效的疫苗。在全球范围内，它影响着生活在不发达国家和发展中国家的约 1400 万人。作为致病真核生物的利什曼原虫拥有独特的酶和途径，与哺乳动物宿主不同。目前针对利什曼病的控制策略依赖于化学疗法。但是这些化学疗法具有多种副作用，因此，确定潜在的药物靶点变得非常关键。确定合适的药物靶点对于设计可以靶向和控制寄生虫的特异性抑制剂是必要的。在生化特征化和了解这些酶的作用后，这些独特的酶可以用作可能的药物靶点。在这篇综述中，作者讨论了对寄生虫生存至关重要的各种代谢途径，可以将其作为抗利什曼病的潜在药物靶点加以利用。
