Latest Cutaneous leishmaniasis Stories
An international collaboration of researchers from the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC), Tunisia and France has demonstrated a high cure rate and remarkably few side effects in treating patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) with an investigational antibiotic cream. CL is a parasitic disease that causes disfiguring lesions, with 350 million people at risk worldwide and 1.5 million new cases annually, including U.S. military personnel serving abroad and the...
Genome research for the health of the poorest of the poor Belgian scientists of the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) in Antwerp, Belgium made a breakthrough in bridging high tech molecular biology research on microbial pathogens and the needs of the poorest of the poor. After sequencing the complete genome of Leishmania donovani (a parasite causing one of the most important tropical diseases after malaria) in hundreds of clinical isolates, they identified a series of mutations specific...
Knowing the molecular machinery Genome sequencing alone provides researchers with only limited information on the organism works because it neither reveals how the system is regulated nor does it indicate the role of each specific DNA sequence or RNA transcript. For that, scientists need to identify the system's regulatory and functional molecules, which are the ones calling the shots. A very well-established concept in molecular biology predicts that sequence conservation among species...
As disease expands global reach, Infectious Disease Research Institute teams up with India to target most deadly form of leishmaniasis SEATTLE, Feb. 22, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The first clinical trial of a new vaccine for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) has been launched by the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI), a Seattle-based nonprofit that develops products to prevent, detect, and treat diseases of poverty. The Phase 1 trial is taking place in Washington State,...
GENEVA, Jan. 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) and Abbott (NYSE: ABT) have signed a four-year joint research and non-exclusive licensing agreement to undertake research on new treatments for several of the world's most neglected tropical diseases, including Chagas disease, helminth infections, leishmaniasis and sleeping sickness. Through this collaboration, DNDi and Abbott scientists will focus initial efforts on discovering and advancing...
New research shows that infectious disease-fighting drugs could be designed to block a pathogen's entry into cells rather than to kill the bug itself. Historically, medications for infectious diseases have been designed to kill the offending pathogen. This new strategy is important, researchers say, because many parasites and bacteria can eventually mutate their way around drugs that target them, resulting in drug resistance. In this study, scientists showed that using an experimental...
Parasite genomes speak of evolution by changes in gene, region and chromosome number, not by mutation in genes Two remarkable discoveries were today revealed by researchers into genome analysis of Leishmania parasites. These results uncovered a surprising level of variation at the genome structure level. First, they found that the DNA sequence of individual strains of each species populations is almost completely identical. It appears that only a small number of genes may cause...
East Africa is fighting the worst kala azar outbreak in a decade. Collaboration across the region through the Leishmaniasis East Africa Platform (LEAP) has resulted in the development of a new combination therapy (SSG&PM) which is cheaper and nearly halves the length of treatment from a 30 day course of injections to 17 days. East African endemic countries are taking the necessary regulatory measures to use it in their programs, but experts warn that without international funding or...
New research published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology suggests that salivary components from a Leishmania vector play a relevant and direct role on neutrophils, which influence parasite burden For millions of people who live under the constant threat of Leishmania infection, a new discovery by Brazilian scientists may lead to new breakthroughs, preventing these parasites from taking hold in the body or reducing the severity of infections once they occur. In a new report appearing in...
