Comparative drug sensitivities of culture forms of Trypanosoma cruzi and Trypanosoma dionisii

Abstract

AT least 12 million people suffer from Chagas' disease in South America, but despite intensive efforts over the last 65 yr, no treatment effective against all stages of the disease has emerged¹. Trypanosoma cruzi the causative agent of the disease, develops intracellularly in the tissues of the heart and alimentary tract. Such development, together with the absence of effective chemotherapy, means that drug testing for agents active against Chagas' disease is time-consuming, costly and hazardous². Because of the danger of infection when working with T. cruzi, it has been suggested by Baker³ that other species of the subgenus Schizotrypanum of the genus Trypanosoma could be used as models for studying this parasite. T. dionisii, isolated from the bat, Pipistrellus pipistrellus, by Baker and Thompson⁴, seems to be a particularly suitable choice because of its apparent non-pathogenicity in man³. The experiments described here show that T. dionisii can replace T. cruzi in in vitro drug screens.