Selenium Derivatives as Promising Therapy for Chagas Disease: and Studies.

Chagas disease is a tropical infection caused by the protozoan parasite and a global public health concern. It is a paradigmatic example of a chronic disease without an effective treatment. Current treatments targeting are limited to two obsolete nitroheterocyclic drugs, benznidazole and nifurtimox, which lead to serious drawbacks. Hence, new, more effective, safer, and affordable drugs are urgently needed. Selenium and their derivatives have emerged as an interesting strategy for the treatment of different prozotoan diseases, such as African trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis, and malaria. In the case of Chagas disease, diverse selenium scaffolds have been reported with antichagasic activity and . On the basis of these premises, we describe the and trypanocidal activity of 41 selenocompounds against the three morphological forms of different strains. For the most active selenocompounds, their effect on the metabolic and mitochondrial levels and superoxide dismutase enzyme inhibition capacity were measured in order to determine the possible mechanism of action. Derivative , with a selenocyanate motif, fulfills the most stringent requirements for potential antichagasic agents and exhibits a better profile than benznidazole . This finding provides a step forward for the development of a new antichagasic agent.