Molecular docking to Toxoplasma gondii thymidylate synthase-dihydrofolate reductase and efficacy of raltitrexed in infected mice.
Michelle de Paula ReisDaniely Alves de LimaKaroline Bach PauliCarlos Eduardo Linhares AndreottiAndré Luiz Soares de MoraesDaniela Dib GonçalvesItalmar Teodorico NavarroPaulo Sérgio Alves BuenoFlavio Augusto Vicente SeixasArquimedes GasparottoEmerson Luiz Botelho LourençoPublished in: Parasitology research (2018)
Toxoplasmosis is a zoonosis of worldwide distribution. Currently, two drugs, pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine, are used as a reference in the treatment of toxoplasmosis, but the resistance of Toxoplasma gondii appears as a relevant public health problem. In order to identify new drugs to toxoplasmosis treatment, we performed a molecular docking of raltitrexed to T. gondii thymidylate synthase-dihydrofolate reductase (TS-DHFR) and also evaluated its efficacy in infected mice. Initially, raltitrexed was docked on the crystallographic structures of TS-DHFR from T. gondii and Mus musculus. Then, 48 h after infection with the T. gondii RH strain, different groups of mice received an oral dose of raltitrexed (0.15, 0.75, and 1.5 mg kg-1). Two days after treatments, raltitrexed was able to prevent mortality and reduce the number of tachyzoites in the peritoneal fluid and liver imprints from infected mice. The results showed that raltitrexed has important protective activities against the T. gondii RH strain. Molecular docking still suggests that the effects against the parasite may be dependent on the inhibition of T. gondii thymidylate synthase. This study opens new perspectives for the use of raltitrexed in patients infected with T. gondii, especially when conventional treatments do not exhibit the expected efficacy.
Keyphrases
- molecular docking
- toxoplasma gondii
- molecular dynamics simulations
- high fat diet induced
- public health
- end stage renal disease
- ejection fraction
- chronic kidney disease
- insulin resistance
- newly diagnosed
- prognostic factors
- risk factors
- adipose tissue
- cardiovascular disease
- type diabetes
- coronary artery disease
- high resolution
- peritoneal dialysis