Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Development Of Phenotypic Drug Discovery Models For Tropical Parasitic Diseases, Surendra Kumar Jain

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Malaria and visceral leishmaniasis are major killer parasitic diseases. These diseases though occur primarily in tropical countries; economic burden and overall health impacts of malaria and leishmaniasis are global. The emergence of drug-resistant and more-virulent strains of the pathogens has further amplified the problems. New drug discovery approaches primarily rely on in vitro and in vivo models of the disease. The pathogens causing leishmaniasis and malaria are intracellular. Leishmania parasite grows as amastigotes in macrophages cells, and malaria parasite grows within the hepatocytes or erythrocytes. The intracellular forms of the pathogens are responsible for the pathophysiology of the diseases. New …