Aug. 20, 1998 SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--Researchers at the San
Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center and UC San Francisco
have demonstrated that a type of drug known as a cysteine
protease inhibitor may be highly effective against American
trypanosomiasis or Chagas1 disease, which is caused by an
infection with the parasite Trypansoma cruzi (T. cruzi). Chagas
is the leading cause of heart disease in Latin America and
approximately 50,000 people die every year as a result of it.
Once confined to Latin America, cases of Chagas1 disease have
been reported in the United States. The study provides proof
that this new class of protease inhibitors can be safely used in
animals to treat a parasitic infection, the researchers said.
The study, published in the August 17 issue of the Journal of
Experimental Medicine, reports on the treatment of 21 mice
infected with lethal doses of T. cruzi. All of the treated mice
were rescued from the infection. A control group of untreated
mice all died within four to ten days. Some