Promising Drug Repurposing Candidates Targeting Free-Living Amoebae: A Systematic and Critical Review of Laboratory-Based Evidence - PubMed
6 hours ago
- #free-living amoebae
- #drug repurposing
- #systematic review
- The review identifies drug repurposing as a cost-effective strategy for treating infections caused by free-living amoebae (FLA), including Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK), granulomatous amoebic encephalitis (GAE), and primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM).
- A systematic analysis of 112 studies screened from 23,624 records evaluated 2726 drugs and combinations, with 166 compounds showing strong trophocidal activity at potentially translatable concentrations (≤10 µM), including six with cysticidal effects.
- Promising candidates include sulfadiazine and rifampicin for GAE prevention/early treatment, polyhexamethylene biguanide/neomycin/atropine combinations and voriconazole/nitazoxanide for AK, and azithromycin alone or with amphotericin B for PAM, though further studies are needed for clinical translation.