RESEARCH ARTICLE
Structures, Targets and Recent Approaches in Anti-Leishmanial Drug Discovery and Development
Karin Seifert*
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2011Volume: 5
First Page: 31
Last Page: 39
Publisher ID: TOMCJ-5-31
DOI: 10.2174/1874104501105010031
Article History:
Received Date: 18/2/2010Revision Received Date: 12/5/2010
Acceptance Date: 20/6/2010
Electronic publication date: 9/3/2011
Collection year: 2011

open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
Recent years have seen a significant improvement in available treatment options for leishmaniasis. Two new drugs, miltefosine and paromomycin, have been registered for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in India since 2002. Combination therapy is now explored in clinical trials as a new treatment approach for VL to reduce the length of treatment and potentially prevent selection of resistant parasites. However there is still a need for new drugs due to safety, resistance, stability and cost issues with existing therapies. The search for topical treatments for cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is ongoing. This review gives a brief overview of recent developments and approaches in anti-leishmanial drug discovery and development.