Susceptibility Testing of Medically Important Parasites

Abstract

In the last 2 decades, renewed attention to neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) has spurred the development of antiparasitic agents, especially in light of emerging drug resistance. The need for new drugs has required screening methods using parasite culture. Furthermore, clinical laboratories sought to correlate susceptibility methods with treatment outcomes, most notably with malaria. Parasites with their various life cycles present greater complexity than bacteria, for which standardized susceptibility methods exist. This review catalogs the state-of-the-art methodologies used to evaluate the effects of drugs on key human parasites from the point of view of drug discovery as well as the need for laboratory methods that correlate with clinical outcomes.

Detection and quantification of Plasmodium falciparum in human blood by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry: a proof of concept study

“…Discrimination between bacterial strains with different resistance patterns based on characteristic peaks of the MALDI-TOF spectra is possible for a wide range of bacteria [ 27 , 28 ]. Currently, no clinically relevant method for identification of anti-malarial drug resistance is established and anti-malarial drug resistance is, therefore, typically identified after treatment failure [ 29 , 30 ]. The perspective of MALDI-TOF-based resistance testing would be targeted use of anti-malarial drugs and better surveillance of resistance development.…”

Creep in nitroimidazole inhibitory concentration among the Entamoeba histolytica isolates causing amoebic liver abscess and screening of andrographolide as a repurposing drug

“…Drug susceptibility testing in E. histolytica has been challenging because of the absence of competent screening assay. Additionally, the available methods are exhaustive and have complex procedures besides requiring expertise and parasite culture facilities 30 . Thus, only a handful of studies are available reporting the drug sensitivity of E. histolytica isolates.…”

Role of Host Small GTPases in Apicomplexan Parasite Infection

“…The availability of several small GTPase inhibitors [ 133 , 134 ] allows for quick and easy testing of their efficacy against clinically relevant apicomplexan parasites in the search for novel host-targeted compounds. Screening of inhibitory compounds in vitro against apicomplexan parasites is easily conceivable, given the availability of robust protocols for drug susceptibility assessment for all the clinically relevant apicomplexan parasites [ 135 , 136 , 137 ].…”