title: Amiodarone inhibits Trypanosoma cruzi infection and promotes cardiac cell recovery with gap junction and cytoskeleton reassembly in vitro.
abstract: We present the results of the first detailed study of the antiproliferative and ultrastructural effects of amiodarone on Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas' disease. Moreover, we report the effects of this compound on the recovery of F-actin fibrils, connexin43, and contractility in T. cruzi-infected cardiac myocytes. Amiodarone is the most prescribed class III antiarrhythmic agent and is frequently used for the symptomatic treatment of Chagas' disease patients with cardiac compromise. In addition, recent studies identified its antifungal and antiprotozoal activities, which take place through Ca(2+) homeostasis disruption and ergosterol biosynthesis blockade. We tested different concentrations of amiodarone (2.5 to 10 μM) on infected primary cultures of heart muscle cells and observed a dose- and time-dependent effect on growth of the clinically relevant intracellular amastigote form of T. cruzi. Ultrastructural analyses revealed that amiodarone had a profound effect on intracellular amastigotes, including mitochondrial swelling and disorganization of reservosomes and the kinetoplast and a blockade of amastigote-trypomastigote differentiation. Amiodarone showed no toxic effects on host cells, which recovered their F-actin fibrillar organization, connexin43 distribution, and spontaneous contractility concomitant with the drug-induced eradication of the intracellular parasites. Amiodarone is, therefore, a promising compound for the development of new drugs against T. cruzi.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Ultraestrutura Celular, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Adesse
authors.forename: Eduardo Meirelles
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Azzam
authors.forename: Maria de Nazareth L
authors.initials: Mde N
authors.lastname: Meirelles
authors.forename: Julio A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Urbina
authors.forename: Luciana R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Garzoni
mesh_terms: D000638:Amiodarone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism*; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D017629:Gap Junctions / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000469:parasitology; D014344:Trypanocidal Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000472:pathogenicity
chemical_list: D014344:Trypanocidal Agents; D000638:Amiodarone