A Systematic Review of Apicomplexa Looking into Epigenetic Pathways and the Opportunity for Novel Therapies.

Pathogens

Graduate Program in Microbiology, Parasitology, Pathology, Laboratory of Veterinary Clinical Parasitology, Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba 80035-050, PR, Brazil.

Published: February 2023

AI Article Synopsis

  • There has been a growing interest in the host's epigenetic changes during apicomplexan infections, especially with the rise of new therapies targeting these modifications.
  • A bibliometric analysis of 116 studies revealed that the USA and China produced the most publications, with a focus on non-coding RNA and host defense pathways.
  • The review identifies potential drug targets for repurposing existing drugs, but emphasizes the need for more in-depth understanding of host epigenetic pathways before confirming these targets.

Article Abstract

Interest in host epigenetic changes during apicomplexan infections increased in the last decade, mainly due to the emergence of new therapies directed to these alterations. This review aims to carry out a bibliometric analysis of the publications related to host epigenetic changes during apicomplexan infections and to summarize the main studied pathways in this context, pointing out those that represent putative drug targets. We used four databases for the article search. After screening, 116 studies were included. The bibliometric analysis revealed that the USA and China had the highest number of relevant publications. The evaluation of the selected studies revealed that was considered in most of the studies, non-coding RNA was the most frequently reported epigenetic event, and host defense was the most explored pathway. These findings were reinforced by an analysis of the co-occurrence of keywords. Even though we present putative targets for repurposing epidrugs and ncRNA-based drugs in apicomplexan infections, we understand that more detailed knowledge of the hosts' epigenetic pathways is still needed before establishing a definitive drug target.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9963874PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12020299DOI Listing

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