title: Agrochemicals against malaria, sleeping sickness, leishmaniasis and Chagas disease.
abstract: In tropical regions, protozoan parasites can cause severe diseases with malaria, leishmaniasis, sleeping sickness, and Chagas disease standing in the forefront. Many of the drugs currently being used to treat these diseases have been developed more than 50 years ago and can cause severe adverse effects. Above all, resistance to existing drugs is widespread and has become a serious problem threatening the success of control measures. In order to identify new antiprotozoal agents, more than 600 commercial agrochemicals have been tested on the pathogens causing the above mentioned diseases. For all of the pathogens, compounds were identified with similar or even higher activities than the currently used drugs in applied in vitro assays. Furthermore, in vivo activity was observed for the fungicide/oomyceticide azoxystrobin, and the insecticide hydramethylnon in the Plasmodium berghei mouse model, and for the oomyceticide zoxamide in the Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense STIB900 mouse model, respectively.
authors.affiliation: BASF SE, Global Research Herbicides, Ludwigshafen, Germany. matthias.witschel@basf.com
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Witschel
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rottmann
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaiser
authors.forename: Reto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brun
mesh_terms: D016573:Agrochemicals / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000818:Animals; D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007891:Leishmania / Q000187:drug effects*; D008288:Malaria / Q000188:drug therapy; D051379:Mice; D021261:Parasitic Sensitivity Tests; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000187:drug effects*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014329:Tropical Climate; D014345:Trypanosoma / Q000187:drug effects*; D014353:Trypanosomiasis, African / Q000188:drug therapy
chemical_list: D016573:Agrochemicals; D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents