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Boubaker G, Bernal A, Vigneswaran A, Imhof D, de Sousa MCF, Hänggeli KPA, Haudenschild N, Furrer J, Păunescu E, Desiatkina O, Hemphill A. In vitro and in vivo activities of a trithiolato-diRuthenium complex conjugated with sulfadoxine against the apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Int J Parasitol Drugs Drug Resist 2024; 25:100544. [PMID: 38703737 PMCID: PMC11087982 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpddr.2024.100544] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2024] [Revised: 04/17/2024] [Accepted: 04/24/2024] [Indexed: 05/06/2024]
Abstract
Organometallic compounds, including Ruthenium complexes, have been widely developed as anti-cancer chemotherapeutics, but have also attracted much interest as potential anti-parasitic drugs. Recently hybrid drugs composed of organometallic Ruthenium moieties that were complexed to different antimicrobial agents were synthesized. One of these compounds, a trithiolato-diRuthenium complex (RU) conjugated to sulfadoxine (SDX), inhibited proliferation of Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites grown in human foreskin fibroblast (HFF) monolayers with an IC50 < 150 nM, while SDX and the non-modified RU complex applied either individually or as an equimolar mixture were much less potent. In addition, conjugation of SDX to RU lead to decreased HFF cytotoxicity. RU-SDX did not impair the in vitro proliferation of murine splenocytes at concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 0.5 μM but had an impact at 2 μM, and induced zebrafish embryotoxicity at 20 μM, but not at 2 or 0.2 μM. RU-SDX acted parasitostatic but not parasiticidal, and induced transient ultrastructural changes in the mitochondrial matrix of tachyzoites early during treatment. While other compounds that target the mitochondrion such as the uncouplers FCCP and CCCP and another trithiolato-Ruthenium complex conjugated to adenine affected the mitochondrial membrane potential, no such effect was detected for RU-SDX. Evaluation of the in vivo efficacy of RU-SDX in a murine T. gondii oocyst infection model comprised of non-pregnant outbred CD1 mice showed no effects on the cerebral parasite burden, but reduced parasite load in the eyes and in heart tissue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ghalia Boubaker
- Institute of Parasitology, Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern. Länggass-Strasse 122, 3012, Bern, Switzerland.
| | - Alice Bernal
- Institute of Parasitology, Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern. Länggass-Strasse 122, 3012, Bern, Switzerland.
| | - Anitha Vigneswaran
- Institute of Parasitology, Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern. Länggass-Strasse 122, 3012, Bern, Switzerland.
| | - Dennis Imhof
- Institute of Parasitology, Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern. Länggass-Strasse 122, 3012, Bern, Switzerland.
| | - Maria Cristina Ferreira de Sousa
- Institute of Parasitology, Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern. Länggass-Strasse 122, 3012, Bern, Switzerland; Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences (GCB), University of Bern, Switzerland.
| | - Kai Pascal Alexander Hänggeli
- Institute of Parasitology, Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern. Länggass-Strasse 122, 3012, Bern, Switzerland; Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences (GCB), University of Bern, Switzerland.
| | - Noé Haudenschild
- Institute of Parasitology, Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern. Länggass-Strasse 122, 3012, Bern, Switzerland.
| | - Julien Furrer
- Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Bern, Freiestrasse 3, 3012, Bern, Switzerland.
| | - Emilia Păunescu
- Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Bern, Freiestrasse 3, 3012, Bern, Switzerland.
| | - Oksana Desiatkina
- Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Bern, Freiestrasse 3, 3012, Bern, Switzerland.
| | - Andrew Hemphill
- Institute of Parasitology, Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern. Länggass-Strasse 122, 3012, Bern, Switzerland.
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