title: Redox-active antiparasitic drugs.
abstract: CONCLUSIONS
  Parasitic diseases affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide and represent major health problems. Treatment is becoming extremely difficult due to the emergence of drug resistance, the absence of effective vaccines, and the spread of insecticide-resistant vectors. Thus, identification of affordable and readily available drugs against resistant parasites is of global demand.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Susceptibility of many parasites to oxidative stress is a well-known phenomenon. Therefore, generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) or inhibition of endogenous antioxidant enzymes would be a novel therapeutic approach to develop antiparasitic drugs. This article highlights the unique metabolic pathways along with redox enzymes of unicellular (Plasmodium falciparum, Trypanosoma cruzi, Trypanosoma brucei, Leishmania donovani, Entamoeba histolytica, and Trichomonas vaginalis) and multicellular parasites (Schistosoma mansoni), which could be utilized to promote ROS-mediated toxicity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Enzymes involved in various vital redox reactions could be potential targets for drug development.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The identification of redox-active antiparasitic drugs along with their mode of action will help researchers around the world in designing novel drugs in the future.
authors: Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata, India.
authors: Chinmay
authors: C
authors: Pal
authors: Uday
authors: U
authors: Bandyopadhyay
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000977:Antiparasitic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004748:Entamoeba histolytica / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism; D014246:Trichomonas vaginalis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D014351:Trypanosomatina / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000977:Antiparasitic Agents; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species