Novel synthetic polyamines are effective in the treatment of experimental microsporidiosis, an opportunistic AIDS-associated infection

Abstract

Microsporidia are eukaryotic obligate intracellular protists that are emerging pathogens in immunocompromised hosts, such as patients with AIDS or patients who have undergone organ transplantation. We have demonstrated in vitro and in vivo that synthetic polyamine analogs are effective antimicrosporidial agents with a broad therapeutic window. CD8-knockout mice or nude mice infected with the microsporidian Encephalitozoon cuniculi were cured when they were treated with four different novel polyamine analogs at doses ranging from 1.25 to 5 mg/kg of body weight/day for a total of 10 days. Cured animals demonstrated no evidence of parasitemia by either PCR or histologic staining of tissues 30 days after untreated control animals died.

FIG. 1.

Structures of natural polyamines.

FIG. 2.

Structures of polyamine analogues (tetramines and pentamines) with restricted conformations.

FIG. 3.

Structures of oligoamines and pentamidine analogues.