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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, March 2009, p. 953-957, Vol. 53, No. 3
0066-4804/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AAC.00831-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Efficacy of the Novel Diamidine Compound 2,5-Bis(4-Amidinophenyl)- Furan-Bis-O-Methlylamidoxime (Pafuramidine, DB289) against Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense Infection in Vervet Monkeys after Oral Administration{triangledown}

R. E. Mdachi,1* J. K. Thuita,1 J. M. Kagira,1 J. M. Ngotho,1,4 G. A. Murilla,1 J. M. Ndung'u,1,5 R. R. Tidwell,2 J. E. Hall,2 and R. Brun3

Kenya Agricultural Research Institute-Trypanosomiasis Research Institute, P.O. Box 362, 00902 Kikuyu, Kenya,1 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7525,2 Swiss Tropical Institute, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland,3 Institute of Primate Research, Nairobi, Kenya,4 Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, 71 Av. Louis-Casaï, Case Postale 93, 1216 Cointrin, Geneva, Switzerland5

Received 24 June 2008/ Returned for modification 21 September 2008/ Accepted 30 November 2008

Owing to the lack of oral drugs for human African trypanosomiasis, patients have to be hospitalized for 10 to 30 days to facilitate treatment with parenterally administered medicines. The efficacy of a novel orally administered prodrug, 2,5-bis(4-amidinophenyl)-furan-bis-O-methlylamidoxime (pafuramidine, DB289), was tested in the vervet monkey (Chlorocebus [Cercopithecus] aethiops) model of sleeping sickness. Five groups of three animals each were infected intravenously with 104 Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense KETRI 2537 cells. On the seventh day postinfection (p.i.) in an early-stage infection, animals in groups 1, 2, and 3 were treated orally with pafuramidine at dose rates of 1, 3, or 10 mg/kg of body weight, respectively, for five consecutive days. The animals in groups 4 and 5 were treated with 10 mg/kg for 10 consecutive days starting on the 14th day p.i. (group 4) or on the 28th day p.i. (group 5), when these animals were in the late stage of the disease. In the groups treated in the early stage, 10 mg/kg of pafuramidine completely cured all three monkeys, whereas lower doses of 3 mg/kg and 1 mg/kg cured only one of three and zero of three monkeys, respectively. Treatment of late-stage infections resulted in cure rates of one of three (group 4) and zero of three (group 5) monkeys. These studies demonstrated that pafuramidine was orally active in monkeys with early-stage T. brucei rhodesiense infections at dose rates above 3 mg/kg for 5 days. It was also evident that the drug attained only minimal efficacy against late-stage infections, indicating the limited ability of the molecule to cross the blood-brain barrier. This study has shown that oral diamidines have potential for the treatment of early-stage sleeping sickness.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Kenya Agricultural Research Institute-Trypanosomiasis Research Centre, P.O. Box 362, 00902 Kikuyu, Kenya. Phone: 254-20 2700604. Fax: 254-15 432397. E-mail: elliemdachi1957{at}yahoo.com

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 8 December 2008.

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, March 2009, p. 953-957, Vol. 53, No. 3
0066-4804/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AAC.00831-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Wenzler, T., Boykin, D. W., Ismail, M. A., Hall, J. E., Tidwell, R. R., Brun, R. (2009). New Treatment Option for Second-Stage African Sleeping Sickness: In Vitro and In Vivo Efficacy of Aza Analogs of DB289. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 53: 4185-4192 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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