Boromycin has potent anti-Toxoplasma and anti-Cryptosporidium activity.

Boromycin has potent anti-Toxoplasma and anti-Cryptosporidium activity. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2021 Jan 19;: Authors: Abenoja J, Cotto-Rosario A, O'Connor R Abstract Toxoplasma gondii and Cryptosporidium parvum, members of the phylum Apicomplexa, are significant pathogens of both humans and animals worldwide for which new and effective therapeutics are needed. Here we describe the activity of the antibiotic boromycin against Toxoplasma and Cryptosporidium Boromycin potently inhibited intracellular proliferation of both T. gondii and C. parvum at half maximal effective concentrations (EC50) of 2.27 nM and 4.99 nM, respectively. Treatment of extracellular T. gondii tachyzoites with 25 nM of boromycin for 30 mins suppressed 84% of parasite growth, but T. gondii tachyzoite invasion into host cells was not affected by boromycin. Immunofluorescence of boromycin-treated T. gondii showed loss of morphologically intact parasites with randomly distributed surface antigens inside the parasitophorous vacuoles. Boromycin exhibited a high selectivity for the parasites over their host cells. These results suggest boromycin is a promising new drug candidate for treating toxoplasmosis and cryptosporidiosis. PMID: 33468470 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy - Category: Microbiology Authors: Tags: Antimicrob Agents Chemother Source Type: research