A new study published in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected
Tropical Diseases on September 6th presents a key advance in
developing a safer cure for sleeping sickness. Led by Professor
Peter Kennedy, researchers at the University of Glasgow's
Institute for Infection, Immunology and Inflammation have
created a version of the drug most commonly used to treat
sleeping sickness which can be administered orally in pill form.
Sleeping sickness – or human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) – is
a neglected tropical disease of major importance. Transmitted by
the tsetse fly and caused by the trypanosome parasite, sleeping
sickness is invariably fatal if left untreated. Once the disease
has crossed the blood-brain barrier and entered the central
nervous system the most commonly used treatment is an
intravenous course of the arsenic-based drug melarsoprol.
Because melarsoprol has a low solubility in water, it is
dissolved in propylene glycol and administered intravenously.
The result is a highly-toxic drug that kills fi