Molecular Docking-Based Virtual Screening of FDA-Approved Drugs Using Trypanothione Reductase Identified New Trypanocidal Agents
American trypanosomiasis or Chagas disease, caused by <i>Trypanosoma cruzi</i> (<i>T. cruzi</i>), affects approximately 6-7 million people worldwide. However, its pharmacological treatment causes several uncomfortable side effects, causing patients' treatment abandonment. Therefore, there is a need for new and better treatments. In this work, the molecular docking of nine hundred twenty-four FDA-approved drugs on three different sites of trypanothione reductase of <i>T. cruzi</i> (<i>Tc</i>TR) was carried out to find potential trypanocidal agents. Finally, biological evaluations in vitro and in vivo were conducted with the selected FDA-approved drugs. Digoxin, alendronate, flucytosine, and dihydroergotamine showed better trypanocidal activity than the reference drugs benznidazole and nifurtimox in the in vitro evaluation against the trypomastigotes form. Further, these FDA-approved drugs were able to reduce 20-50% parasitemia in a short time in an in vivo model, although with less efficiency than benznidazole. Therefore, the results suggest a combined therapy of repurposed and canonical drugs against <i>T. cruzi</i> infection.
Authors
- Emma Saavedra (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8661-9813)
- Domingo Méndez-Álvarez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8646-8840)
- Alonzo González‐González (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7512-859X)
- Gildardo Rivera (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9842-4167)
- Verónica Alcántara‐Farfán (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5456-3920)
- Joaquin Cordero‐Martínez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1302-6790)
- Karina Vázquez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8592-7515)
- Rogelio Gómez-Escobedo
- Citlali Vázquez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7783-1708)
- Benjamín Nogueda‐Torres
Institutions
- Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (MX)
- Instituto Nacional de Cardiología (MX)
- Instituto Politécnico Nacional (MX)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Molecules
- Published
- 2024-08-10
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29163796
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Trypanosoma species research and implications
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.55
Funders
- Instituto Politécnico Nacional