Investigating the structure-activity relationships of N'-[(5-nitrofuran-2-yl) methylene] substituted hydrazides against Trypanosoma cruzi to design novel active compounds.

Chagas disease, caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, is a neglected chronic tropical infection endemic in Latin America. New and effective treatments are urgently needed because the two available drugs - benznidazole (BZD) and nifurtimox (NFX) - have limited curative power in the chronic phase of the disease. We have previously reported the design and synthesis of N'-[(5-nitrofuran-2-yl) methylene] substituted hydrazides that showed high trypanocidal activity against axenic epimastigote forms of three T.

A novel ABCG-like transporter of Trypanosoma cruzi is involved in natural resistance to benznidazole.

Benznidazole (BZ) is one of the two drugs used for Chagas disease treatment. Nevertheless therapeutic failures of BZ have been reported, which were mostly attributed to variable drug susceptibility among Trypanosoma cruzi strains. ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters are involved in a variety of translocation processes and some members have been implicated in drug resistance.

Prevalence of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli strains harboring the longus pilus gene in Brazil.

The longus type IV pilus gene (lngA) was highly prevalent (32.8%) among Brazilian enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli strains producing both heat-labile and heat-stable enterotoxins and bearing the CFA/I, CS1CS3, or CS6 antigen. Furthermore, lngA was more often found in strains isolated from children with diarrhea than in strains isolated from children without diarrhea.