Promising findings from research into Chagas

A recent research article by Global-NAMRIP members describes how there are only two drugs available to treat Chagas, an endemic tropical disease caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi. It affects around 7 million people worldwide, mostly in Low/Middle-Income Countries.

The research article reports on the search for an alternative treatment, given that both drugs can cause severe adverse effects and have limited efficacy. The team reports on promising findings from research into the anti-parasitic effectiveness of two synthetic derivatives, LINS03018 (1) and LINS03024 (2), of gibbilimbol B, a natural alkylphenol isolated from the plant Piper malacophyllum.

The work was co-authored by Ravi Kant and Myron Christodoulides from Southampton, along with Maiara Amaral, Marina T. Varela, João Paulo S. Fernandes and Andre G. Tempone, from Brazil.

This research was funded by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), grant 405691/2021-1 and São Paulo State Research Foundation (FAPESP), grant 2021/04464-8, 2018/26655-7, 2017/50333-7; 2018/25128-3; 2019/24028-8 and 2018/03918-2. The associated in silico molecular modelling studies were done through funding provided by the BBSRC International Partnership Fund awarded to the University of Southampton (grant BB/X512035/1, entitled 22ROMITIGATIONFUNDSouthampton).

Ravi, a winner of a 2021 Global-NAMRIP award when he was at the University of Delhi, arrived at University Hospital Southampton at the start of 2023 and is engaged in computational modelling and drug discovery studies with Prof. Myron Christodoulides' group.