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Pharmaceutics
Special Issues
Drug Delivery Systems for Treatment of Leishmaniasis
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Drug Delivery Systems for Treatment of Leishmaniasis

A special issue of Pharmaceutics (ISSN 1999-4923). This special issue belongs to the section "Drug Delivery and Controlled Release".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2023) | Viewed by 3099

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Xavier Fernàndez-Busquets

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Guest Editor
Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), and Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), Centre Esther Koplowitz, Planta 1, ISGlobal, Rosselló 149-153, ES08036 Barcelona, Spain
Interests: nanomedicine; cell adhesion; liposomes; Plasmodium; targeted drug delivery; malaria; aggregative proteins
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Yunuen Avalos-Padilla

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Guest Editor
Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), and Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), Centre Esther Koplowitz, Planta 1, ISGlobal, Rosselló 149-153, ES08036 Barcelona, Spain
Interests: protozoan parasites; Plasmodium; Entamoeba; Leishmania; synthetic biology; nanomedicine; liposomes; aptamers; vesicular trafficking

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Leishmania is a protozoan responsible for leishmaniasis, a disease that is transmitted to vertebrate hosts through the bite of female sand flies. This parasite has a dimorphic life cycle, consisting of intracellular amastigote and free promastigote forms. The amastigote multiplies in the cytoplasm of macrophages of vertebrate hosts causing the clinical effects of leishmaniasis. This pathology is one of the most important tropical neglected diseases, which affects many geographical areas and results in global health and economic concerns involving humans, domestic animals and wildlife. Around 80% of leishmaniasis cases are found in the Old World, affecting populations mainly in low- and middle-income countries. Leishmaniasis is classified as cutaneous, mucocutaneous or visceral depending on the tissues infected. Despite its severity and increasing diffusion, no efficient therapy with low toxicity and side effects is currently available, especially in endemic regions. Alternative and innovative treatments such as local and self-administering therapies, treatments combining several drugs and different administration routes, and drug repurposing through new nanotechnological delivery systems are needed to overcome these drawbacks.

We are pleased to invite you to submit your work related to (new) drugs against leishmaniasis and/or different strategies to administer them.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Xavier Fernàndez-Busquets
Dr. Yunuen Avalos-Padilla
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pharmaceutics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Leishmania
  • leishmaniasis
  • antileishmanial drugs
  • antileishmanial drug discovery
  • antileishmanial drug delivery
  • drug resistance
  • targeted drug delivery
  • nanocarriers

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 3124 KiB  
Article
In Vitro Evaluation of Aerosol Therapy with Pentamidine-Loaded Liposomes Coated with Chondroitin Sulfate or Heparin for the Treatment of Leishmaniasis
by Lucía Román-Álamo, Mohamad Allaw, Yunuen Avalos-Padilla, Maria Letizia Manca, Maria Manconi, Federica Fulgheri, Jorge Fernández-Lajo, Luis Rivas, José Antonio Vázquez, José Esteban Peris, Xavier Roca-Geronès, Srisupaph Poonlaphdecha, Maria Magdalena Alcover, Roser Fisa, Cristina Riera and Xavier Fernàndez-Busquets
Pharmaceutics 2023, 15(4), 1163; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics15041163 - 06 Apr 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1488
Abstract
The second-line antileishmanial compound pentamidine is administered intramuscularly or, preferably, by intravenous infusion, with its use limited by severe adverse effects, including diabetes, severe hypoglycemia, myocarditis and renal toxicity. We sought to test the potential of phospholipid vesicles to improve the patient compliance [...] Read more.
The second-line antileishmanial compound pentamidine is administered intramuscularly or, preferably, by intravenous infusion, with its use limited by severe adverse effects, including diabetes, severe hypoglycemia, myocarditis and renal toxicity. We sought to test the potential of phospholipid vesicles to improve the patient compliance and efficacy of this drug for the treatment of leishmaniasis by means of aerosol therapy. The targeting to macrophages of pentamidine-loaded liposomes coated with chondroitin sulfate or heparin increased about twofold (up to ca. 90%) relative to noncoated liposomes. The encapsulation of pentamidine in liposomes ameliorated its activity on the amastigote and promastigote forms of Leishmania infantum and Leishmania pifanoi, and it significantly reduced cytotoxicity on human umbilical endothelial cells, for which the concentration inhibiting 50% of cell viability was 144.2 ± 12.7 µM for pentamidine-containing heparin-coated liposomes vs. 59.3 ± 4.9 µM for free pentamidine. The deposition of liposome dispersions after nebulization was evaluated with the Next Generation Impactor, which mimics human airways. Approximately 53% of total initial pentamidine in solution reached the deeper stages of the impactor, with a median aerodynamic diameter of ~2.8 µm, supporting a partial deposition on the lung alveoli. Upon loading pentamidine in phospholipid vesicles, its deposition in the deeper stages significantly increased up to ~68%, and the median aerodynamic diameter decreased to a range between 1.4 and 1.8 µm, suggesting a better aptitude to reach the deeper lung airways in higher amounts. In all, nebulization of liposome-encapsulated pentamidine improved the bioavailability of this neglected drug by a patient-friendly delivery route amenable to self-administration, paving the way for the treatment of leishmaniasis and other infections where pentamidine is active. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drug Delivery Systems for Treatment of Leishmaniasis)
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Review

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41 pages, 3847 KiB  
Review
The Potential Use of Peptides in the Fight against Chagas Disease and Leishmaniasis
by Hayelom Berhe, Mahesh Kumar Cinthakunta Sridhar, Mulate Zerihun and Nir Qvit
Pharmaceutics 2024, 16(2), 227; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics16020227 - 04 Feb 2024
Viewed by 1247
Abstract
Chagas disease and leishmaniasis are both neglected tropical diseases that affect millions of people around the world. Leishmaniasis is currently the second most widespread vector-borne parasitic disease after malaria. The World Health Organization records approximately 0.7–1 million newly diagnosed leishmaniasis cases each year, [...] Read more.
Chagas disease and leishmaniasis are both neglected tropical diseases that affect millions of people around the world. Leishmaniasis is currently the second most widespread vector-borne parasitic disease after malaria. The World Health Organization records approximately 0.7–1 million newly diagnosed leishmaniasis cases each year, resulting in approximately 20,000–30,000 deaths. Also, 25 million people worldwide are at risk of Chagas disease and an estimated 6 million people are infected with Trypanosoma cruzi. Pentavalent antimonials, amphotericin B, miltefosine, paromomycin, and pentamidine are currently used to treat leishmaniasis. Also, nifurtimox and benznidazole are two drugs currently used to treat Chagas disease. These drugs are associated with toxicity problems such as nephrotoxicity and cardiotoxicity, in addition to resistance problems. As a result, the discovery of novel therapeutic agents has emerged as a top priority and a promising alternative. Overall, there is a need for new and effective treatments for Chagas disease and leishmaniasis, as the current drugs have significant limitations. Peptide-based drugs are attractive due to their high selectiveness, effectiveness, low toxicity, and ease of production. This paper reviews the potential use of peptides in the treatment of Chagas disease and leishmaniasis. Several studies have demonstrated that peptides are effective against Chagas disease and leishmaniasis, suggesting their use in drug therapy for these diseases. Overall, peptides have the potential to be effective therapeutic agents against Chagas disease and leishmaniasis, but more research is needed to fully investigate their potential. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drug Delivery Systems for Treatment of Leishmaniasis)
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