2. Academic Validation
  3. Efficacy of antiretroviral compounds against Toxoplasma gondii in vitro

Efficacy of antiretroviral compounds against Toxoplasma gondii in vitro

  • Int J Antimicrob Agents. 2019 Dec;54(6):814-819. doi: 10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2019.08.023.
Jin-Lei Wang 1,  Hany M Elsheikha 2,  Ting-Ting Li 3,  Jun-Jun He 3,  Meng-Jie Bai 3,  Qin-Li Liang 3,  Xing-Quan Zhu 3,  Wei Cong 4
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu Province 730046, P.R. China. Electronic address: wangjinlei90@126.com.
  • 2 Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, Loughborough LE12 5RD, UK.
  • 3 State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu Province 730046, P.R. China.
  • 4 State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu Province 730046, P.R. China; College of Marine Science, Shandong University at Weihai, Weihai, Shandong Province 264209, P.R. China. Electronic address: messicw@163.com.
PMID: 31479744 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2019.08.023
Abstract

The obligate intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii can infect nearly all warm-blooded Animals, including humans. Although Infection with this Parasite is generally benign, severe illness may occur in infected individuals if their immunity becomes less competent, such as in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients. In this study, the inhibitory activity of 44 commonly used antiretroviral compounds was determined against T. gondii in vitro. Of the 44 tested antiretroviral compounds, 14 showed potency against T. gondii at IC50 concentrations (concentration inhibiting T. gondii tachyzoite growth by 50%) ranging from 1.18 ± 2.21 µM (nelfinavir) to 18.89 ± 1.87 µM (trovirdine). Of the 14 potent antiretroviral compounds, 7 are HIV-1 Protease Inhibitors. This study also investigated whether co-administration of these 14 antiretroviral compounds interferes with the anti-T. gondii activity of existing anti-T. gondii drugs, namely sulfadiazine and pyrimethamine. The results showed no significant interaction between any of the 14 tested antiretroviral compounds and pyrimethamine or sulfadiazine. These results warrant investigation of whether administration of the lead antiretroviral drugs with highly potent anti-T. gondii activity to HIV patients may help to limit the occurrence of toxoplasmic encephalitis.

Keywords

AIDS; Antiretroviral compounds; Cerebral toxoplasmosis; Drug repurposing; HIV; Toxoplasma gondii.

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