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Antiprotozoal

Class of pharmaceuticals used to treat protozoan infections

Antiprotozoal agents (ATC code: ATC P01) is a class of pharmaceuticals used in treatment of protozoan infection.

A paraphyletic group, protozoans have little in common with each other. For example, Entamoeba histolytica, a unikont eukaryotic organism, is more closely related to Homo sapiens (humans), which also belongs to the unikont phylogenetic group, than it is to Naegleria fowleri, a "protozoan" bikont. As a result, agents effective against one pathogen may not be effective against another.

Antiprotozoal agents can be grouped by mechanism or by organism. Recent papers have also proposed the use of viruses to treat infections caused by protozoa.

Overuse or misuse of antiprotozoals can lead to the development of antiprotozoal resistance.

Medical uses

Antiprotozoals are used to treat protozoal infections, which include amebiasis, giardiasis, cryptosporidiosis, microsporidiosis, malaria, babesiosis, trypanosomiasis, Chagas disease, leishmaniasis, and toxoplasmosis. Currently, many of the treatments for these infections are limited by their toxicity.

Outdated terminology

Protists were once considered protozoans, but of late the categorization of unicellar organisms has undergone rapid development, however in literature, including scientific, there tends to persist the usage of the term antiprotozoal when they really mean anti-protist. Protists are a supercategory of eukaryota which includes protozoa.

Mechanism

The mechanisms of antiprotozoal drugs differ significantly drug to drug. For example, it appears that eflornithine, a drug used to treat trypanosomiasis, inhibits ornithine decarboxylase, while the aminoglycoside antibiotic/antiprotozoals used to treat leishmaniasis are thought to inhibit protein synthesis.

Examples

Eflornithine
Furazolidone
Hydroxychloroquine
Melarsoprol
Metronidazole
Nifursemizone
Nitazoxanide
Ornidazole
Paromomycin sulfate
Pentamidine
Pyrimethamine
Quinapyramine
Ronidazole
Tinidazole

References

Cynthia R. L. Webster. (15 June 2001). "Clinical pharmacology". Teton NewMedia.
(11 December 2007). "Katzung & Trevor's pharmacology: examination & board review". McGraw-Hill Professional.
(2013). "Beyond phage therapy: Virotherapy of protozoal diseases". Future Microbiology.
(2013). "Fleas and smaller fleas: Virotherapy for parasite infections". Trends in Microbiology.
Ouellette, Marc. (November 2001). "Biochemical and molecular mechanisms of drug resistance in parasites". Tropical Medicine and International Health.
(1 July 1995). "Human antiprotozoal therapy: past, present, and future.". Clinical Microbiology Reviews.
(1 October 2009). "Antiprotozoal Agents: An Overview". Anti-Infective Agents in Medicinal Chemistry.
(9 January 2017). "Determination of antiprotozoal drug mechanisms by metabolomics approaches". Parasitology.

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antiprotozoal-agents biocides

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