L-NIL HCl is a relatively selective iNOS inhibitor (IC50s: 0.4-3.3, 8-38, and 17-92 µM for iNOS, eNOS, and nNOS). L-NIL effectively inhibits iNOS both in vitro and in vivo. L-NIL has been used to demonstrate a critical role for iNOS in the immune response
Megazol is a nitroimidazole based drug that cures some protozoan infections. A study of nitroimidazoles found the drug extremely effective against T. cruzi and T. brucei which cause Chagas disease and African sleeping sickness, respectively.
O-11 is an analog of the fully saturated, 14-carbon fatty acid myristic acid, in which the methylene group at position 11 is replaced with oxygen. It is highly effective and selective at killingTrypanosoma brucei, the protozoan parasite responsible for African sleeping sickness, exhibiting an LD50of less than 1 μM in a cell culture assay.1,2The toxic effects of O-11 appear to be caused by its ability to inhibit the incorporation of a single myristate into the GPI anchor of the variant surface glycoprotein (VSG), a protein critical for evading the host immune response.1O-11 exhibits essentially no anti-fungal activity when assayed usingC. neoformans, but does have a minor inhibitory effect on HIV-1 replication in T-lymphocytes.3 1.Doering, T.L., Raper, J., Buxbaum, L.U., et al.An analog of myristic acid with selective toxicity for African trypanosomesScience2521851-1854(1991) 2.Doering, T.L., Lu, T., Werbovetz, K.A., et al.Toxicity of myristic acid analogs toward African trypanosomesProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America919735-9739(1994) 3.Langner, C.A., Lodge, J.K., Travis, S.J., et al.4-Oxatetradecanoic acid is fungicidal for Cryptococcus neoformans and inhibits replication of human immunodeficiency virus IThe Journal of Biological Chemisty267(24)17159-17169(1992)
GW837016X, also known as NEU-391, is a potent inhibitor of protozoan parasite proliferation. GW837016X extended life of treated mice by 50%, compared to untreated controls. At the cellular level, GW837016X inhibited mitosis and cytokinesis in T. brucei.
PF00349412 is a selective inhibitor of protozoan protein N-myristoyltransferases. Inhibition of N-myristoyltransferase has been validated pre-clin. as a target for the treatment of fungal and trypanosome infections, using species-specific inhibitors.
FFK29 is a synthetic class II HDACi (Histone deacetylase inhibitors) which have have recently emerged as novel therapeutic options for treating various protozoan and parasitic diseases. While these HDACi demonstrated a negligible effect on the viability of mature cysts, Acanthamoeba encystation was significantly inhibited by these HDACi. In conclusion, these synthetic HDACi demonstrated potent amoebicidal effects and inhibited the growth and encystation of Acanthamoeba, thus highlighting their enormous potential for further development.