Optimization of Topical Therapy for Leishmania major Localized Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Using a Reliable C57BL/6 Model

When initiating the cutaneous disease named cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), Leishmania parasites develop within the parasitophorous vacuoles of phagocytes residing in and/or recruited to the dermis, a process leading to more or less chronic dermis and epidermis-damaging inflammatory processes. Topical treatment of CL could be a mainstay in its management. Any improvements of topicals, such as new vehicles and shorter optimal contact regimes, could facilitate their use as an ambulatory treatment. Recently, WR279396, a third-generation aminoglycoside ointment, was designed with the aim to provide stability and optimal bioavailability for the molecules expected to target intracellular Leishmania. Two endpoints were expected to be reached: i) accelerated clearance of the maximal number of parasites, and ii) accelerated and stable repair processes without scars. A mouse model of CL was designed: it relies on the intradermal inoculation of luciferase-expressing Leishmania, allowing for in vivo bioluminescence imaging of the parasite load fluctuation, which can then be quantified simultaneously with the onset and resolution of clinical signs. These quantitative readout assays, deployed in real time, provide robust methods to rapidly assess efficacy of drugs/compounds i) to screen treatment modalities and ii) allow standardized comparison of different therapeutic agents

WR279,396, a Third Generation Aminoglycoside Ointment for the Treatment of Leishmania major Cutaneous Leishmaniasis: A Phase 2, Randomized, Double Blind, Placebo Controlled Study

Cutaneous leishmaniasis is due to a small parasite (Leishmania) that creates disfiguring sores, and affects more than one million persons (mainly children) each year. Treating lesions with a cream—instead of with injections as currently done—would greatly improve the well-being of affected patients. No cream formulation that would be efficient and would not create important skin irritation has been identified yet. Here, we tested a new cream formulation (WR279,396) containing paromomycin and gentamicin, two members of a well-known family of antibacterial antibiotics (aminoglycosides). Injectable paromomycin is efficient in other forms of the disease (visceral leishmaniasis). This was a carefully monitored study (phase 2) involving mainly children in Tunisia and France. The cream was applied twice a day for 20 days. The proportion of patients treated with the paromomycin-containing cream (active formulation) that cured (94%) was higher than that observed (71%) in patients treated with a cream that did not contain the active product (placebo formulation). Local irritation affected less than one-third of the patients and was usually mild. This new cream formulation was safe and effective in treating cutaneous leishmaniasis, thereby providing a new, simple, easily applicable, and inexpensive treatment for this neglected disease

First Molecular Epidemiological Study of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Libya

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania. The disease is characterized by the formation of chronic skin lesions followed by permanent scars and deformation of the infected area. It is distributed in many tropical and subtropical countries with more than 2 million cases every year. During the past few years CL has emerged as a major public health problem in Libya. So far, diagnosis was based on clinical symptoms and microscopic observation of parasites. Disease outbreaks were not investigated and the causative leishmanial species of CL were not identified so far. Our study indicates the presence of two coexisting species: Leishmania major and Leishmania tropica. These results are crucial in order to provide accurate treatment, precise prognosis and appropriate public health control measures. The recent armed conflict in Libya that ended with the Gadhafi regime collapse on October 2011 has affected all aspects of the life in the country. In this study we discussed multiple risk factors that could be associated with this conflict and present major challenges that should be considered by local and national health authorities for evaluating the CL burden and highlighting priority actions for disease control

Un nouveau variant enzymatique de

Pour la première fois, l’agent pathogène de la leishmaniose cutanée du Nord de l’Algérie est rapporté à Leishmania infantum s.l. Il s’agit d’un variant enzymatique original (zymodème 24) différant pour deux électromorphes du variant isolé en France (zymodème 11), dans le même type de lésion. Jusqu’à ce jour, les zymodèmes dermotropes d’Algérie et de France n’ont pas été observés dans la leishmaniose viscérale méditerranéenne

Presence in Mali of

The arabo-african |zymodem MON-26 was identified for the first time in an autochtonous patient from Mali. L. major has been previously identified in this country but it was in european patient and it was zymodem MON-25

Isolation of

Out of 1 167 females of sandflies dissected, one specimen of Phlebotomus papatasi captured at a transmission site near Biskra, a well known Algerian focus of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis, was found naturally infected with Leishmania major zymodeme MON-25. This supports classical observations of Sergent and al. P. papatasi as vector in this focus in 1921

(Adler et Théodor, 1927) en Algérie (Diptera, Psychodidae)

Les résultats d’une étude portant sur 33 162 exemplaires de Sergentomyia minuta parroti (Adler et Theodor, 1927), Phlébotome herpétophile largement distribué à travers l’Algérie, sont exposés. Les caractères morphologiques permettent une diagnose spécifique aisée. Toutefois, le nombre de dents cibariales augmentant au fur et à mesure de l’aridification bioclimatique, il semble que ce caractère soit dépendant du climat