NEW TRENDS IN CHEMOTHERAPY ON HUMAN AND ANIMAL BLOOD PARASITES

Blood-parasite protozoa are causative agents of some of the major trop ical or infectious diseases for humans and animals, such as Plasmodium for malaria (about 270 million infected people), Trypanosoma cruzi fo r Chagas' disease (about 18-20 million individuals), African trypanoso mes for human and bovine trypanosomiasis, and Babesia for cattle and d ogs. The absence of efficient vaccines against these diseases, the abs ence or the high toxicity of the few drugs against American and Africa n trypanosomiasis, and the emergence of chemoresistance against Plasmo dium falciparum emphasize the necessity to propose new antiparasitic s trategies. Among these strategies, the biological strategy is based on the identification of key molecules for parasite development such tha t structural analogs can be designed that are parasite-specific or suf ficiently inactive for the host. This requires a careful biochemical a nalysis of each step of the parasite life cycle. For blood-parasite pr otozoa, the lipid metabolism required for membrane biogenesis, antimic rotubular drugs or inhibitors of the mitotic spindle, and drug targeti ng offer new trends in chemotherapy against Plasmodium, Babesia, and t rypanosomes.