The group has experience in the field of biology, molecular and cellular pharmacology of parasitic protozoa of the Trypanosomatidae family, and Leishmania in particular, dating back to 1990. During this period, our laboratory has demonstrated its experience in the study of resistance to leishmanicidal drugs, from the standpoint both of strategies for addressing the problem of resistance in Leishmania, and of technological capability for deciding on the mechanisms to be developed and selecting drug resistance markers for their future application in clinical practice.
Molecular and functional characterisation of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, their implication in drug resistance, and strategies for reversal of the drug resistance phenotype mediated by such ABC transporters, form part of our designated goals. Just recently, we conducted a study into the mechanisms of resistance to miltefosine, currently the most promising drug against leishmaniasis, which showed that mutations in the miltefosine transporter LdMT and sub-unit B (LdRos3) are responsible for the resistance process, and constitute resistance markers for assessment in isolated clinical cases that fail to respond to treatment with miltefosine.
López-Neyra Institute of Parasitology and Biomedicine