Transcriptomic analysis of benznidazole-resistant and susceptible Trypanosoma cruzi populations.

Background: Chagas disease (CD), caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, is a serious public health concern in Latin America. Nifurtimox and benznidazole (BZ), the only two drugs currently approved for the treatment of CD, have very low efficacies in the chronic phase of the disease and several toxic side effects. Trypanosoma cruzi strains that are naturally resistant to both drugs have been reported.

Comparative transcriptomic analysis of antimony resistant and susceptible Leishmania infantum lines.

Background: One of the major challenges to leishmaniasis treatment is the emergence of parasites resistant to antimony. To study differentially expressed genes associated with drug resistance, we performed a comparative transcriptomic analysis between wild-type and potassium antimonyl tartrate (Sb)-resistant Leishmania infantum lines using high-throughput RNA sequencing.

Methods: All the cDNA libraries were constructed from promastigote forms of each line, sequenced and analyzed using STAR for mapping the reads against the reference genome (L.