a comparative study of aminosidine sulfate, meglomine antimoniate, combination of both and glucantime in murine leishmaniasis treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis, caused by leishmania tropica, with topical application of paromomycin 20% in balb-c mice

the current treatment of choice for cutaneous leishmaniasis is either parenteral or intralesional antimonial compounds. each of these treatments has its own downfalls which include toxic side effects with the parentral injection and pain at the site of injection with the intralesional injection. in recent years, there has been more focus on paromomycin as an alternative drug; however, current data arose many controversies. in this study, the efficacy of different therapeutic regimens including topical paromomycin 20%, topical gentamycin 0.5%, intralesional glucantime injections, topical paromomycin 20% combine with gentamycin 0.5%, and placebo were compared. the results showed that the topical application of paromomycin had better response, less recurrence. in conclusion, topical paromomycin 20% can be an appropriate substitute for intralesional injection of glucantime, but more studies are needed to support its efficacy in human cutaneous leishmaniasis.