Zoonotic trypanosomes in South East Asia: Attempts to control Trypanosoma lewisi using veterinary drugs

• There is an increasing number of clinical reports of Trypanosoma lewisi infections in humans.
• The 4 veterinary trypanocidal drugs used were unable to cure T. lewisi infected rats.
• In rats infected by T. lewisi and Trypanosoma evansi, melarsomine hydrochloride cured T. evansi only.
• No veterinary trypanocidal drug proved to be efficient against T. lewisi in rats.
• Further investigations are needed to identify efficient drugs for T. lewisi control in humans.

A growing number of atypical human infections due to the livestock parasite Trypanosoma evansi, or to the rat parasite Trypanosoma lewisi, are reported in humans in Asia. In some cases, clinical evolutions request treatments, however, so far, there were very few attempts to control T. lewisi using trypanocidal drugs. In a study published elsewhere, the efficacy of human trypanocides is evaluated in laboratory rats, and it concludes that none of them is able to cure rats experimentally infected with T. lewisi. Control of T. lewisi in rat would be a step for identification of drugs against this parasite. In the present study, 4 veterinary drugs: diminazene aceturate, isometamidium chloride, melarsomine hydrochloride and quinapyramine sulfate and chloride, were evaluated at low and high doses, in intra-muscular injections to normal rats experimentally infected with a stock of T. lewisi from Thailand. None of these treatments being efficient, a trial was also made using melarsomine hydrochloride in T. evansi infected rats and in mixed T. lewisi and T. evansi infected rats, in order to demonstrate the efficacy of the drugs under the present protocol. T. evansi was cleared from the rat's blood the day after the treatment, while, T. lewisi remained unaffected until the end of the experiment. These observations clearly demonstrated the efficacy of melarsomine hydrochloride against T. evansi and its inefficacy against T. lewisi. In conclusion none of the veterinary drugs was efficient against this stock of T. lewisi. Other protocols using higher doses or other drugs and T. lewisi stocks should be investigated in further studies. The control of T. lewisi infection in Wistar rats, using veterinary trypanocidal drugs, remains so far unsuccessful.

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