New developments in the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis

Leishmaniasis, including the cutaneous form, poses an important public health threat around the world, while no vaccine is currently available against any form of leishmaniasis. The drugs used in the first line treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) are commonly pentavalent antimonials despite th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine
Main Author: Rasit Dinc
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.4103/1995-7645.345944
https://doaj.org/article/136ba673c9e0457a9d67ac615e47bff9
Description
Summary:Leishmaniasis, including the cutaneous form, poses an important public health threat around the world, while no vaccine is currently available against any form of leishmaniasis. The drugs used in the first line treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) are commonly pentavalent antimonials despite their toxicities, long-term treatment duration and increasing resistance rates. Other alternatives are amphotericin B, pentamidine, miltefosine and paromomycine. Movement of the population, especially in endemic regions, increases the spread of the parasite and affectes the distribution of causative species, which requires re-evaluation the treatment regimen. Extensive researches are carried out on the treatment of leishmaniasis. The immunotherapeutic and targeted therapeutic approaches, formulations of carrier-loaded active drugs, local thermotherapeutic applications, the combination of antileishmanial drugs/compounds, the use of new synthetic and natural products are promising therapeutic options in the future. Herein, the author reviews the potential treatment modalities of CL with a brief overview of current treatments in the light of ongoing studies around the world.