background : miltefosine is a new drug of choice for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis. numerous experi­mental studies have shown miltefosine is effective on leishmania donovani , however, effectiveness of miltefos­ine in treatment of l. infantum is not fully understood. the aims of the present study were to evaluate cytotoxic effects of miltefosine on iranian strain of l. infantum , and ...

BACKGROUND American visceral leishmaniasis is caused by the protozoan Leishmania infantum. Dogs are the main reservoirs in the domestic transmission cycle. The limited accuracy of diagnostic tests for canine leishmaniasis may contribute to the lack of impact of control measures recommended by the Brazilian Ministry of Health. The objective of this study was to estimate the accuracy of two enzym...

We have identified and characterized a novel human cysteine proteinase of the papain family. A full-length cDNA for this enzyme was cloned from a human brain cDNA library. Nucleotide sequence analysis revealed that the isolated cDNA codes for a polypeptide of 303 amino acids, tentatively called cathepsin Z, that exhibits structural features characteristic of cysteine proteinases. Fluorescent in...

Background Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) caused by Leishmania infantum is the most severe form of leishmaniasis in Iran, which causes a high mortality rate in the case of inaccurate diagnosis and treatment. This study aimed to clone of K26 gene from Iranian strain of L. infantum and register the sequencing results in Genbank to facilitate the preparation a new K26 antigen for the detection of L. ...

Extracts of plants, such as papaya, pineapple and fig, are known to be effective at killing intestinal nematodes that inhabit anterior sites in the small intestine, such as Heligmosomoides polygyrus. In this paper, we demonstrate that similar in vitro efficacy also occurs against a rodent nematode of the large intestine, Trichuris muris, and confirm that the cysteine proteinases present in the ...

Cysteine proteinases also referred to as thiol proteases play an essential role in plant growth and development but also in senescence and programmed cell death, in accumulation of storage proteins such as in seeds, but also in storage protein mobilization. Thus, they participate in both anabolic and catabolic processes. In addition, they are involved in signalling pathways and in the response ...

It has been shown previously that the laticifer fluid of Calotropis procera (Ait.) R.Br. is highly toxic to the egg hatching and larval development of Aedes aegypti L. In the present study, the larvicidal potential of other laticifer fluids obtained from Cryptostegia grandiflora R.Br., Plumeria rubra L. and Euphorbia tirucalli L. was evaluated. We attempted to correlate larvicidal activity with...

Cysteine proteinases from the fruit and latex of plants, including papaya, pineapple and fig, were previously shown to have a rapid detrimental effect, in vitro, against the rodent gastrointestinal nematodes, Heligmosomoides polygyrus (which is found in the anterior small intestine) and Trichuris muris (which resides in the caecum). Proteinases in the crude latex of papaya also showed anthelmin...