Nanomedical Therapeutic and Prophylaxis Strategies Against Intracellular Protozoa in the Americas

Abstract

Leishmaniasis and Chagas disease, the most important protozoan infections in Latin America and the Caribbean, are caused by intracellular parasites. Treatments of Chagas disease and cutaneous leishmaniasis have limitations including toxicity, variable efficacy, requirements for parenteral administration, and lengthy treatment regimens. Despite progress in visceral leishmaniasis treatments, the high cost is its main limitation. No preventive and therapeutic vaccine exists for these diseases. An attractive alternative to the urgent need of developing new medication alternatives to current treatments that are less toxic, more effective, and that do not generate resistance is offered by the intervention of nanotechnology in the pharmaceutical and immunological field. In this chapter, we review how nanomedicines could help solve the problems posed by the treatment and prophylaxis of parasitic disease like leishmaniasis and Chagas disease, the main parasitosis of the Americas.