Investigation of susceptibility to paromomycin in isolates from dogs of Leishmania (Leishmania) infantum

Abstract

In Brazil, visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a parasitic disease caused by the protozoan Leishmania (Leishmania) infantum. This disease is serious and may be lethal if not treated. The treatment of leishmaniasis in Brazil consists in the use of pentavalent antimonials and/or amphotericin B. These drugs are toxic, have several side effects and the effectiveness of treatment has decreased in the last years. Paromomycin is an alternative drug already used in the treatment of VL in Asia with effectiveness rate higher than 90%. In this project, we aimed to evaluate the susceptibility in vitro to paromomycin of isolates of L. (L.) infantum from dogs of the city of Embu-Guaçu, State of São Paulo.