Efficacy of oleylphosphocholine in experimental cutaneous leishmaniasis

TY - JOUR

T1 - Efficacy of oleylphosphocholine in experimental cutaneous leishmaniasis

AU - Van Bocxlaer, Katrien

AU - Dixon, Jodie

AU - Platteeuw, Johannes J

AU - Van Den Heuvel, Dennie

AU - Mcarthur, Kerri-Nicola

AU - Harris, Andy

AU - Alavijeh, Mo

AU - Croft, Simon L

AU - Yardley, Vanessa

N1 - © The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.

PY - 2023/7/5

Y1 - 2023/7/5

N2 - OBJECTIVES: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a neglected tropical disease causing a range of skin lesions for which safe and efficacious drugs are lacking. Oleylphosphocholine (OLPC) is structurally similar to miltefosine and has previously demonstrated potent activity against visceral leishmaniasis. We here present the in vitro and in vivo efficacy of OLPC against CL-causing Leishmania species.METHODS: The antileishmanial activities of OLPC were evaluated and compared with miltefosine in vitro against intracellular amastigotes of seven CL-causing species. Following the confirmation of significant in vitro activity, the performance of the maximum tolerated dose of OLPC was evaluated in an experimental murine model of CL followed by a dose-response titration and the efficacy evaluation of four OLPC formulations (two with a fast-release and two with a slow-release profile) using bioluminescent Leishmania major parasites.RESULTS: OLPC demonstrated potent in vitro activity of the same order as miltefosine in the intracellular macrophage model against a range of CL-causing species. A dose of 35 mg of OLPC/kg/day administered orally for 10 days was well-tolerated and able to reduce the parasite load in the skin of L. major-infected mice to a similar extent as the positive control paromomycin (50 mg/kg/day, intraperitoneally) in both in vivo studies. Reducing the dose of OLPC resulted in inactivity and modifying the release profile using mesoporous silica nanoparticles led to a decrease in activity when solvent-based loading was used in contrast to extrusion-based loading, which had no impact on its antileishmanial efficacy.CONCLUSIONS: Together, these data suggest that OLPC could be a promising alternative to miltefosine treatment for CL. Further investigations exploring experimental models with additional Leishmania species and skin pharmacokinetic and dynamic analyses are required.

AB - OBJECTIVES: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a neglected tropical disease causing a range of skin lesions for which safe and efficacious drugs are lacking. Oleylphosphocholine (OLPC) is structurally similar to miltefosine and has previously demonstrated potent activity against visceral leishmaniasis. We here present the in vitro and in vivo efficacy of OLPC against CL-causing Leishmania species.METHODS: The antileishmanial activities of OLPC were evaluated and compared with miltefosine in vitro against intracellular amastigotes of seven CL-causing species. Following the confirmation of significant in vitro activity, the performance of the maximum tolerated dose of OLPC was evaluated in an experimental murine model of CL followed by a dose-response titration and the efficacy evaluation of four OLPC formulations (two with a fast-release and two with a slow-release profile) using bioluminescent Leishmania major parasites.RESULTS: OLPC demonstrated potent in vitro activity of the same order as miltefosine in the intracellular macrophage model against a range of CL-causing species. A dose of 35 mg of OLPC/kg/day administered orally for 10 days was well-tolerated and able to reduce the parasite load in the skin of L. major-infected mice to a similar extent as the positive control paromomycin (50 mg/kg/day, intraperitoneally) in both in vivo studies. Reducing the dose of OLPC resulted in inactivity and modifying the release profile using mesoporous silica nanoparticles led to a decrease in activity when solvent-based loading was used in contrast to extrusion-based loading, which had no impact on its antileishmanial efficacy.CONCLUSIONS: Together, these data suggest that OLPC could be a promising alternative to miltefosine treatment for CL. Further investigations exploring experimental models with additional Leishmania species and skin pharmacokinetic and dynamic analyses are required.

KW - Mice

KW - Animals

KW - Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous/drug therapy

KW - Antiprotozoal Agents/therapeutic use

KW - Phosphorylcholine/therapeutic use

KW - Leishmaniasis, Visceral/drug therapy

KW - Leishmania major

KW - Mice, Inbred BALB C

U2 - 10.1093/jac/dkad162

DO - 10.1093/jac/dkad162

M3 - Article

C2 - 37229566

SN - 1460-2091

VL - 78

SP - 1723

EP - 1731

JO - The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy

JF - The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy

IS - 7

ER -