Further evidence that naphthoquinones inhibits Toxoplasma gondii growth in vitro

Parasitol Int. 2015 Sep 1. pii: S1383-5769(15)00142-7. doi: 10.1016/j.parint.2015.08.010. [Epub ahead of print]

da Silva LL1, de Araujo Portes J2, de Araújo MH3, Silva JL4, Rennó MN5, Netto CD4, da Silva AJ6, Costa PR6, De Souza W7, Seabra SH2, DaMatta RA8.

Author information

Abstract

Toxoplasmosis is a widely disseminated disease caused by Toxoplasma gondii, an intracellular protozoan parasite. Standard treatment causes many side effects, such as depletion of bone marrow cells, skin rashes and gastrointestinal implications. Therefore, it is necessary to find chemotherapeutics alternatives for the treatment of this disease. It was shown that a naphthoquinone derivative compound is active against T. gondii, RH strain, with an IC50 around 2.5 μM. Here, three different naphthoquinones derivative compounds with activity against leukemia cells and breast carcinoma cell were tested against T. gondii (RH strain) infected LLC-MK2 cell line. All the compounds were able to inhibit parasite growth in vitro, but one of them showed an IC50 activity below 1 μM after 48h of treatment. The compounds showed low toxicity to the host cell. In addition, these compounds were able to induce tachyzoite-bradyzoite conversion confirmed by morphological changes, Dolichus biflorus lectin cyst wall labeling and characterization of amilopectin granules in the parasites by electron microscopy analysis using the Thierry technique. Furthermore, the compounds induced alterations on the ultrastructure of the parasite. Taken together, our results point to the naphthoquinone derivative (LQB 151) as a potential compound for the development of new drugs for the treatment of toxoplasmosis.

Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

KEYWORDS: 

Toxoplasma gondii; bradyzoite; naphthoquinone; tachyzoite

PMID:

 

26335616

 

[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]