Antiparasitic Effect of Vitamin B12 on Trypanosoma cruzi

Abstract:

A nutritional characteristic of trypanosomatid protozoa is that they need a heme compound as a growth factor. Because of the cytotoxic activity of heme and its structural similarity to cobalamins, we have investigated the in vitro and in vivo effect of vitamin B12 (or cyanocobalamin) on the different forms of Trypanosoma cruzi. Cyanocobalamin showed a marked antiparasitic activity against epimastigotes (50% inhibitory concentration [IC50], 2.42 μM), amastigotes (IC50, 10.69 μM), and trypomastigotes (IC50, 9.46 μM). Anti-epimastigote and -trypomastigote values were 1.7 to 4 times lower than those obtained with the reference drug benznidazole (Bnz). We also found that B12 and hemin do not interact with each other in their modes of action. Our results show that B12 increases intracellular oxidative activity and stimulates both superoxide dismutase (50%) and ascorbate peroxidase (20%) activities, while the activity of …

Año de publicación:

2012

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