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Query: UMLS:C0024530 (malaria)
 44,886 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Following previous studies of verapamil reversal of multidrug resistance in cancer cells and chloroquine resistance in malaria, the effect of the calcium channel blocker verapamil was investigated on multidrug-resistant and susceptible Trypanosoma brucei brucei. Resistance of cloned parasites to diminazene aceturate (Berenil) and isometamidium chloride (Samorin) was expressed in a cell-free in vitro culture system. Verapamil showed antitrypanosomal activity against both, multidrug-resistant and susceptible trypanosomes at concentrations above 1 micrograms/ml. Verapamil did not reverse multidrug resistance when used at concentrations of 0.1 or 1.0 micrograms/ml in combination with diminazene aceturate or isometamidium chloride. Results obtained in vitro correlate with observations in mice. It is suggested that multidrug resistance in African trypanosomes is due to mechanisms other than those occurring in cancer cells, malaria or South-American trypanosomiasis.
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PMID:The effect of verapamil alone and in combination with trypanocides on multidrug-resistant Trypanosoma brucei brucei. 168 2

Agents capable of reversing multidrug resistance (mdr) in falciparum malaria were investigated for potentiation of chloroquine accumulation and toxicity in a cell culture system. Verapamil, its analog RO11-2933, and desipramine caused a dose-dependent increase in the accumulation of chloroquine (CQ) within human and mouse hepatocytes but not human lung cells. Only those cells in which drug accumulation was enhanced by reversing agents reacted positively for P-glycoprotein (PgP)--the putative mediator of the enhanced drug efflux characteristic of mdr. Clinically achievable concentrations of verapamil (0.4 microM) and desipramine (1 microM) increased CQ accumulation within primary mouse hepatocytes by more than 50%. A well-differentiated normal human cell line (Hep-G2) was killed in media containing a combination of supraphysiological concentrations of CQ and verapamil but survived the same concentrations of either drug alone. Reversing agents may block PgP-mediated drug export from normal tissues as well as from MDR cells. Iatrogenic toxicity resulting from this accumulation of potentially toxic drugs such as CQ within normal cells could complicate the reversal of mdr in vivo.
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PMID:Reversal of drug-resistant falciparum malaria by calcium antagonists: potential for host cell toxicity. 197 36

The A.A. weight present criteria of choice in order to set right a correct and effective anti-malarial prophylaxis. In the last ten years, a progressive increase of tropical diseases has been observed. This is due to the considerable growth of intercontinental traffic and of the number of persons moving to or from tropical areas where such diseases are endemic. Among these, malaria represent the most alarming problem, both because of the incidence cases and the difficulties related to the efficacy of pharmacological remedies for the chemoprophylaxis. In particular, three are now various pharmacological possibilities for malarial prophylaxis. Undoubtedly Chloroquine is the most efficacious even if there are many Plasmodium falciparum species resistant to Chloroquine and to other available medicines (multi-resistance). Most authors recommend to associate Chloroquine to others pharmacological substances to avoid pharmaco-resistance phenomena. Among the most famous pharmacological products used elsewhere are Fansidar, Maloprim, Paludrine and Lapudrine, not all are available in Italy. In China, for the therapy of resistant forms of malaria, the Qinghaosu a "schizont-killer" acting on multiresistant plasmodium falciparum has been utilizing for years. The Qinghaosu is not responsible for the crossing-reactions with other anti-malarial medicines. Various substances with Ca-antagonist action (Verapamil) are being experimented. It is supposed that Verapamil associated with Chloroquine can stop the flow of chlorine from plasmodium cells. The same mechanism is expected to be valid also for Desipramine, an experimental tricyclic anti-depressive when associated to Chloroquine. To the people moving to endemic areas, the A.A., at the end, suggest a series of practical norms to prevent infection and, therefore, the incidence of imported cases, still increasing at the moment, due to the absence of efficacious vaccine.
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PMID:[A current problem: the prevention of malaria]. 248 2

Following previous studies of verapamil reversal of chloroquine resistance in malaria and multi-drug resistance in cancer cells, the effect of verapamil was investigated on nifurtimox-resistant Trypanosoma cruzi in vitro and antimony-resistant Leishmania donovani in vitro and in vivo. Verapamil alone was not active against either parasite, but in combination with nifurtimox it reversed the drug resistance of T. cruzi and in combination with sodium stibogluconate reversed the drug resistance of L. donovani.
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PMID:Reversal of drug resistance in Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania donovani by verapamil. 255 33

Verapamil increases the net uptake and cytotoxicity of structurally diverse hydrophobic molecules in many multidrug-resistant mammalian cell lines. This compound has also been reported to reverse chloroquine resistance in the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum (Martin, S.K., Oduola, A.M.J., and Milhous, W.K. (1987) Science 235, 899-901). Although the mechanism of this reversal is unknown, it apparently involves an increase in the amount of chloroquine present in erythrocytes infected with the resistant parasites. Chloroquine is a diprotic weak base that accumulates in acidic organelles as a function of the pH gradient present between the organelle and the external medium. By changing the external medium pH, this property of chloroquine was used to alter the cytotoxicity phenotype of genetically chloroquine-sensitive and -resistant trophozoites. Verapamil was also found to be toxic for malaria trophozoites, although this toxicity was independent of external pH and consistently about 3-4-fold higher against resistant strains. When verapamil was tested for its effects on chloroquine cytotoxicity under conditions of phenotypic reversal, it was still found to exert only a measurable effect on the genetically resistant trophozoites. In short time incubations, verapamil was found to increase net chloroquine accumulation in erythrocytes infected with both chloroquine-sensitive and -resistant organisms, but only to affect the chloroquine susceptibility of the latter. Analysis of our data demonstrates that verapamil works independently of the overall pH gradient concentrating chloroquine into a trophozoite's lysosome. Instead, we propose that it inhibits the activity of a membrane ion channel indirectly responsible for determining chloroquine transit within the parasite's cytoplasm.
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PMID:Verapamil reversal of chloroquine resistance in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum is specific for resistant parasites and independent of the weak base effect. 767 25

The effects of verapamil on drug responses of Trypanosoma brucei brucei were studied to determine whether drug resistance of this organism could be related to expression of a drug resistance gene as has been described for drug-resistant cancer cells and malaria. Concomitant administration of verapamil during treatment of two different strains of the parasite with ethidium or berenil resulted in enhancement of the drug effect as shown by increased formation of dyskinetoplastic organisms, increased rates of clearing of the parasites from the blood, and by enhanced survival of infected mice. Verapamil treatment was associated with increased intracellular accumulation of drug, as shown by fluorescence of cells exposed to ethidium or DAPI, a fluorescent surrogate for berenil. These results suggest the importance of exploring the expression of the multiple drug-resistance gene in this series of parasites.
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PMID:Effect of verapamil on antitrypanosomal activity of drugs in mice. 790 34

Control of falciparum malaria has become almost impossible in many areas due to the development of resistance to chloroquine and other antimalarial drugs. Verapamil and a number of unrelated compounds which chemosensitise multi-drug resistant cancer cells also enhance chloroquine susceptibility in Plasmodium falciparum. Chloroquine is accumulated to lower levels in resistant plasmodia, hence the reversal of chloroquine resistance has been attributed to the ability of chemosensitising agents to increase the amount of chloroquine accumulated by the resistant parasite. We have conducted a detailed examination of the effect of verapamil on chloroquine sensitivity and its relationship to chloroquine accumulation. The ability of verapamil to increase steady-state chloroquine accumulation was found to be totally insufficient to explain the increase in chloroquine sensitivity caused by the drug. In contrast, when chloroquine accumulation was increased by raising the pH gradient, the corresponding shifts in sensitivity to chloroquine could be accurately predicted. These results were confirmed with other classes of chemosensitisers and we conclude that an alternative mechanistic explanation is required to completely explain the reversal of chloroquine resistance in P. falciparum.
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PMID:Relationship of global chloroquine transport and reversal of resistance in Plasmodium falciparum. 818 26

A number of compounds, as exemplified by verapamil and desipramine, have been shown to enhance the susceptibility of resistant malaria parasites to chloroquine. The mechanism by which these agents reverse resistance is still controversial but is though to involve alterations in drug transport causing an increase in steady-state drug concentrations. We have proposed that an alternative resistance mechanism may involve the metabolic deactivation of the drug in some resistant parasites via cytochrome P-450 mixed-function oxidases. If the hypothesis is true, it should be possible to alter drug susceptibility in malaria parasites by the use of agents known to inhibit or induce cytochrome P-450 activities. We have assessed the ability of known inhibitors of cytochrome P-450 enzymes (cimetidine, metyrapone, and alpha-naphthoflavone) to enhance chloroquine susceptibility in Plasmodium falciparum culture-adapted and wild-type isolates in vitro and P. berghei in vivo. In all three systems, the inhibitor cimetidine enhanced parasite susceptibility to chloroquine, and this increase in susceptibility was unrelated to changes in chloroquine steady-state concentrations in vitro or to alterations in host pharmacokinetics in vivo. Additionally, the cytochrome P-450 inducer phenobarbital produced slight decreases in P. falciparum drug susceptibility in vitro. We have compared the ability of the cytochrome P-450 inhibitors cimetidine and metyrapone to enhance drug susceptibility with that of verapamil by using wild-type malaria isolates obtained from Cameroon. Verapamil completely reversed resistance, i.e., to below the cutoff point of 70 nM, in all the resistant isolates. Cimetidine enhanced chloroquine susceptibility in 60% of the isolates and reduced 50% inhibitory concentrations by at least 43% in all the resistant isolates. The compounds tested had little or no effect on the 50% inhibitory concentrations for the susceptible isolates. The data support a possible role for detoxification in chloroquine resistance, and even in the absence of such a process we have observed apparent chemosensitization by agents whose common biological feature is the inhibition of cytochrome P-450 enzymes. Additionally, sensitization has been observed in wild-type isolates of P. falciparum obtained form immune residents of an area of endemicity as well as culture-adapted parasites.
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PMID:Enhancement of drug susceptibility in Plasmodium falciparum in vitro and Plasmodium berghei in vivo by mixed-function oxidase inhibitors. 832 80

At high molar excess, verapamil can selectively increase the accumulation and cytotoxicity of structurally dissimilar natural product drugs in many multidrug-resistant tumor cell lines. Such concentrations of verapamil are also capable of increasing the accumulation and activity of chloroquine in chloroquine-resistant strains of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Despite such similarities, it is not clear why chloroquine-resistant P. falciparum is often susceptible to closely related compounds such as amodiaquine, whereas cancer cells are cross-resistant to many structurally unrelated drugs. For 13 aminoquinoline and aminoacridine compounds, relative drug resistance was negatively correlated with lipid solubility at physiological pH (r2 = 0.90, p < 0.0001). The ability of verapamil (5 microM) to reverse drug resistance was also negatively correlated with lipid solubility (r2 = 0.88, p < 0.0001). Furthermore, molar refractivity was weakly correlated with relative drug resistance (r2 = 0.46, p < 0.05) and reversal of drug resistance (r2 = 0.52, p < 0.005). Verapamil increases chloroquine accumulation by resistant parasites, a mechanism suggested to account for its selective chemosensitization effect. We show that the initial rate of chloroquine accumulation by resistant parasites is increased by verapamil. This effect of verapamil is abolished when deoxy-glucose is substituted for glucose. Therefore, verapamil produces an energy-dependent increase in the permeability of resistant parasites to chloroquine. For a panel of four chloroquine-resistant and two chloroquine-susceptible isolates, the effect of verapamil on the accumulation of chloroquine and monodesethyl amodiaquine was found to be correlated (r2 = 0.96, p < 0.001). Verapamil chemosensitization was also correlated for the two drugs (r2 = 0.92, p < 0.005), suggesting a common mechanism. In summary, the degree of drug resistance and the extent of verapamil chemosensitization for a particular drug seem to be dependent on general physical features such as lipid solubility and molar refractivity rather than on closely defined structural parameters. These studies provide insight into this important resistance mechanism of malaria parasites and may provide direction for the development of new drugs that are effective against resistant parasites.
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PMID:Physicochemical properties correlated with drug resistance and the reversal of drug resistance in Plasmodium falciparum. 896 78

Aminoquinoline (AQ) resistance is one of the most important factors in the worldwide resurgence of malaria due to Plasmodium falciparum. We synthesized a series of AQs to define the structure-activity relationships responsible for AQ action against chloroquine-susceptible and -resistant P. falciparum. The AQs with ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, butyl, pentyl, isopentyl (chloroquine), hexyl, octyl, decyl, or dodecyl side chains were equally active against chloroquine-susceptible P. falciparum (50% inhibitory concentrations [IC50s] = 5-15 nM). The AQs with ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, decyl, or dodecyl side chains were also active against chloroquine-, mefloquine- and multiply-resistant P. falciparum (IC50s = 5-20 nM). Verapamil, which enhances the activity of chloroquine against chloroquine-resistant parasites, had no effect on the activity of AQs that were active against resistant parasites. These results indicate that AQs with 2-12 carbon side chains are as active as chloroquine against chloroquine-susceptible P. falciparum, and that AQs with side chains shorter or longer than chloroquine are often active against chloroquine-, mefloquine-, and multiply-resistant P. falciparum.
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PMID:Aminoquinolines that circumvent resistance in Plasmodium falciparum in vitro. 902 80


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