Conventional treatments and non-PEGylated liposome encapsulated doxorubicin for visceral leishmaniasis: A scoping review

• Published in: Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine
• Main Authors: Soumya Ranjan Satapathy, Rudra Narayan Sahoo
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2022
• Subjects: visceral leishmaniasis; doxorubicin; passive targeting; repositioning; non-pegylated liposome encapsulated doxorubicin; resistance; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Arctic; Azar
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.4103/1995-7645.348156; https://doaj.org/article/ba9ebd244fc64526a063852cb1d45445

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), also known as Kala-azar, is caused by Leishmania (L.) donovani complex, which includes L. donovani and L. infantum and is associated with a high death rate as compared to the cutaneous and subcutaneous form. Treatment of VL includes chemotherapeutic agents which are associated with some major hurdles like toxicities, parenteral administration, high cost, parasite resistance and stability. Hence, there is an urgent requirement to develop novel chemotherapeutic agents or repurposing of existing drugs against VL. Developing formulation of new chemical entity for the treatment of VL is laborious, time consuming and associated with huge financial burden. However, screening of existing chemotherapeutic agents is a good alternative to avail cost-effective treatment option for VL. Non-PEGylated liposome encapsulated doxorubicin (Myocet®) is proposed as an alternative treatment option for VL in this review article. Here, we covered the fundamental aspects of VL, loophole associated with available current treatment strategies and non-PEGylated liposome encapsulated doxorubicin as a novel alternative formulation for treating VL, as this liposomal delivery system of doxorubicin might passively target the intra- cellular regions of macrophage.