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ABSTRACT: Introduction: Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease transmitted by phlebotomine sandflies. Between 700,000 and 1.2 million cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis and between 200,000 and 400,000 cases of visceral leishmaniasis (VL), which is fatal if left untreated, occur annually worldwide. Liposomal amphotericin B (LAMB), alone or in combination with other drugs, has been extensively studied as VL treatment, but data on routine field use are limited, and several challenges to patients' access to this life-saving drug remain. Areas covered: This article provides a review of clinical studies on LAMB for VL and other forms of leishmaniasis. The current development of generic versions of LAMB and related challenges are also discussed. Expert opinion: LAMB proved to be highly efficacious and safe in over 8000 VL patients treated by MÉdecins Sans Frontières in South Asia, and its use was feasible even at primary healthcare level. Despite requiring higher doses, LAMB is the drug of choice to treat vulnerable groups (e.g., pregnant or HIV positive) and relapsing VL patients in East Africa. LAMB should be included in national VL guidelines and registered in all VL endemic countries. Its cost should be further reduced and regulatory pathways to prove bioequivalence for generic LAMB products should be implemented.
Expert Opinion on Emerging Drugs 11/2012; · 3.21 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Miltefosine is an alkylphosphocholine drug with demonstrated activity against various parasite species and cancer cells as well as some pathogenic bacteria and fungi. For 10 years it has been licensed in India for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis (VL), a fatal neglected parasitic disease. It is the first and still the only oral drug that can be used to treat VL and cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). The standard 28 day miltefosine monotherapy regimen is well tolerated, except for mild gastrointestinal side effects, although its teratogenic potential severely hampers its general use in the clinic and roll-out in national elimination programmes. The pharmacokinetics of miltefosine are mainly characterized by its long residence time in the body, resulting in extensive drug accumulation during treatment and long elimination half-lives. At the moment, different combination therapy strategies encompassing miltefosine are being tested in multiple controlled clinical trials in various geographical areas of endemicity, both in South Asia and East Africa. We here review the most salient pre-clinical and clinical pharmacological aspects of miltefosine, its mechanism of action against Leishmania parasites and other pathogens, and provide a systematic overview of the efficacy and safety data from all clinical trials of miltefosine, either alone or in combination, in the treatment of VL and CL.
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 07/2012; 67(11):2576-97. · 5.07 Impact Factor
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Ahmed Musa,
Eltahir Khalil,
Asrat Hailu,
Joseph Olobo, Manica Balasegaram,
Raymond Omollo,
Tansy Edwards,
Juma Rashid,
Jane Mbui,
Brima Musa, [......],
Hailemariam Tafes,
Yalemtsehay Mekonnen,
Eyasu Makonnen,
Serah Ndegwa,
Patrick Sagaki,
Robert Kimutai,
Josephine Kesusu,
Rhoda Owiti,
Sally Ellis,
Monique Wasunna
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ABSTRACT: Alternative treatments for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) are required in East Africa. Paromomycin sulphate (PM) has been shown to be efficacious for VL treatment in India.
A multi-centre randomized-controlled trial (RCT) to compare efficacy and safety of PM (20 mg/kg/day for 21 days) and PM plus sodium stibogluconate (SSG) combination (PM, 15 mg/kg/day and SSG, 20 mg/kg/day for 17 days) with SSG (20 mg/kg/day for 30 days) for treatment of VL in East Africa. Patients aged 4-60 years with parasitologically confirmed VL were enrolled, excluding patients with contraindications. Primary and secondary efficacy outcomes were parasite clearance at 6-months follow-up and end of treatment, respectively. Safety was assessed mainly using adverse event (AE) data.
The PM versus SSG comparison enrolled 205 patients per arm with primary efficacy data available for 198 and 200 patients respectively. The SSG & PM versus SSG comparison enrolled 381 and 386 patients per arm respectively, with primary efficacy data available for 359 patients per arm. In Intention-to-Treat complete-case analyses, the efficacy of PM was significantly lower than SSG (84.3% versus 94.1%, difference = 9.7%, 95% confidence interval, CI: 3.6 to 15.7%, p = 0.002). The efficacy of SSG & PM was comparable to SSG (91.4% versus 93.9%, difference = 2.5%, 95% CI: -1.3 to 6.3%, p = 0.198). End of treatment efficacy results were very similar. There were no apparent differences in the safety profile of the three treatment regimens.
The 17 day SSG & PM combination treatment had a good safety profile and was similar in efficacy to the standard 30 day SSG treatment, suggesting suitability for VL treatment in East Africa.
www.clinicaltrials.govNCT00255567.
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 06/2012; 6(6):e1674. · 4.69 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Use of miltefosine in the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is hampered by its potential teratogenicity. The duration of adequate contraceptive cover in females of child-bearing potential after cessation of a potentially teratogenic drug therapy remains debated. The objective of this study was to provide a rational approach to suggest durations of contraceptive cover for various miltefosine regimens.
A human reproductive safety threshold exposure limit was derived using animal-to-human dose conversion. Pharmacokinetic (PK) data for miltefosine in females are lacking; a previously developed population PK model and a comprehensive anthropometric dataset were used to simulate PK data for Indian female VL patients receiving miltefosine for 5, 7, 10 or 28 days. Probability of supra-threshold miltefosine exposure was used to evaluate adequate durations of post-treatment contraceptive cover for the various regimens.
PK data were simulated for 465 treated Indian female VL patients of child-bearing potential with a median age of 25 years (IQR 16-31 years) and median weight of 38 kg (IQR 34-42 kg). From animal reproductive toxicity studies, a human reproductive safety threshold exposure limit was derived of 24.5 μg · day/mL. Probability of 'unprotected' supra-threshold miltefosine exposure was very low (<0.2%) for a post-treatment contraceptive cover period of 4 months for the standard 28 day regimen, and of 2 months for the shorter regimens.
To our knowledge, this is the first study providing rational suggestions for contraceptive cover for a teratogenic drug based on animal-to-human dose conversion. For the 28 day miltefosine regimen, post-treatment contraceptive cover may be extended to 4 months, whereas for all shorter regimens 2 months may be adequate.
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 05/2012; 67(8):1996-2004. · 5.07 Impact Factor
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PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 05/2012; 6(5):e1545. · 4.69 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Miltefosine is an alkylphosphocholine drug with demonstrated activity against various parasite species and cancer cells as well as some pathogenic bacteria and fungi. For 10 years it has been licensed in India for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis (VL), a fatal neglected parasitic disease. It is the first and still the only oral drug that can be used to treat VL and cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). The standard 28 day miltefosine monotherapy regimen is well tolerated, except for mild gastrointestinal side effects, although its teratogenic potential severely hampers its general use in the clinic and roll-out in national elimination programmes. The pharmacokinetics of miltefosine are mainly characterized by its long residence time in the body, resulting in extensive drug accumulation during treatment and long elimination half-lives. At the moment, different combination therapy strategies encompassing miltefosine are being tested in multiple controlled clinical trials in various geographical areas of endemicity, both in South Asia and East Africa. We here review the most salient pre-clinical and clinical pharmacological aspects of miltefosine, its mechanism of action against Leishmania parasites and other pathogens, and provide a systematic overview of the efficacy and safety data from all clinical trials of miltefosine, either alone or in combination, in the treatment of VL and CL.
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 01/2012; · 5.07 Impact Factor
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Raymond Omollo,
Neal Alexander,
Tansy Edwards,
Eltahir A G Khalil,
Brima M Younis,
Abuzaid A Abuzaid,
Monique Wasunna,
Njenga Njoroge,
Dedan Kinoti,
George Kirigi,
Thomas P C Dorlo,
Sally Ellis, Manica Balasegaram,
Ahmed M Musa
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ABSTRACT: Treatment options for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in East Africa are far from satisfactory due to cost, toxicity, prolonged treatment duration or emergence of parasite resistance. Hence there is a need to explore alternative treatment protocols such as miltefosine alone or in combinations including miltefosine, sodium stibogluconate (SSG) or liposomal amphotericin B. The aim of this trial is to identify regimen(s) which are sufficiently promising for future trials in East Africa.
A phase II randomized, parallel arm, open-labelled trial is being conducted to assess the efficacy of each of the three regimens: liposomal amphotericin B with SSG, Liposomal amphotericin B with miltefosine and miltefosine alone. The primary endpoint is cure at day 28 with secondary endpoint at day 210 (6 months). Initial cure is a single composite measure based on parasitologic evaluation (bone marrow, spleen or lymph node aspirate) and clinical assessment. Repeated interim analyses have been planned after recruitment of 15 patients in each arm with a maximum sample size of 63 for each. These will follow group-sequential methods (the triangular test) to identify when a regimen is inadequate (<75% efficacy) or adequate (>90% efficacy). We describe a method to ensure consistency of the sequential analysis of day 28 cure with the non-sequential analysis of day 210 cure.
A regimen with adequate efficacy would be a candidate for treatment of VL with reasonable costs. The design allows repeated testing throughout the trial recruitment period while maintaining good statistical properties (Type I & II error rates) and reducing the expected sample sizes.
ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01067443.
Trials 06/2011; 12:166. · 2.02 Impact Factor
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Michael O Harhay,
Piero L Olliaro,
Michel Vaillant,
François Chappuis,
María Angeles Lima,
Koert Ritmeijer,
Carlos Henrique Costa,
Dorcas Lamounier Costa,
Suman Rijal,
Shyam Sundar, Manica Balasegaram
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ABSTRACT: Drug-dosing recommendations for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) treatment are based on the patients' weight or age. A current lack of demographic and anthropometric data on patients hinders (1) the ability of health providers to properly prepare for patient management, (2) an informed drug procurement for disease control, and (3) the design of clinical trials and development of new drug therapies in the different endemic areas. We present information about the age, gender, weight, and height of 29,570 consecutive VL patients presenting to 20 locations in six geographic endemic regions of Brazil, East Africa, Nepal, and India between 1997 and 2009. Our compilation shows substantial heterogeneity in the types of patients seeking care for VL at the clinics within the different locations. This suggests that drug development, procurement, and perhaps even treatment protocols, such as the use of the potentially teratogenic drug miltefosine, may require distinct strategies in these geographic settings.
The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene 04/2011; 84(4):543-50. · 2.59 Impact Factor
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Tansy Edwards,
Raymond Omollo,
Eltahir A G Khalil,
Sisay Yifru,
Brima Musa,
Ahmed Musa,
Monique Wasunna,
Peter G Smith,
Catherine Royce,
Sally Ellis, Manica Balasegaram,
Asrat Hailu
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ABSTRACT: AmBisome® is an efficacious, safe anti-leishmanial treatment. There is growing interest in its use, either as a single dose or in combination treatments. In East Africa, the minimum optimal single-dosage has not been identified.
An open-label, 2-arm, non-inferiority, multi-centre randomised controlled trial is being conducted to determine the optimal single-dose treatment with AmBisome®.Patients in the single-dose arm will receive one infusion on day 1, at a dose depending on body weight. For the first group of patients entered to the trial, the dose will be 7.5 mg/kg, but if this dose is found to be ineffective then in subsequent patient series the dose will be escalated progressively to 10, 12.5 and 15 mg/kg. Patients in the reference arm will receive a multi-dose regimen of AmBisome® (3 mg/kg/day on days 1-5, 14 and 21: total dose 21 mg/kg). Patients will be hospitalised for approximately one month after the start of treatment and then followed up at three and six months. The primary endpoint is the status of patients six months after treatment. A secondary endpoint is assessment at day 30. Treatment success is determined as the absence of parasites on microscopy samples taken from bone marrow, lymph node or splenic aspirates. Interim analyses to assess the comparative efficacy of the single dose are planned after recruitment of 20 and 40 patients per arm. The final non-inferiority analysis will include 120 patients per arm, to determine if the single-dose efficacy 6 months after treatment is not more than 10% inferior to the multi-dose.
An effective, safe single-dose treatment would reduce hospitalization and treatment costs. Results will inform the design of combination treatment studies.
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00832208.
Trials 03/2011; 12:66. · 2.02 Impact Factor
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Shyam Sundar,
Prabhat Kumar Sinha,
Madhukar Rai,
Deepak Kumar Verma,
Kumar Nawin,
Shanawwaj Alam,
Jaya Chakravarty,
Michel Vaillant,
Neena Verma,
Krishna Pandey,
Poonam Kumari,
Chandra Shekhar Lal,
Rakesh Arora,
Bhawna Sharma,
Sally Ellis,
Nathalie Strub-Wourgaft, Manica Balasegaram,
Piero Olliaro,
Pradeep Das,
Farrokh Modabber
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ABSTRACT: Improved treatment approaches are needed for visceral leishmaniasis. We assessed the efficacy and safety of three potential short-course combination treatments compared with the standard monotherapy in India.
Standard treatment (1 mg/kg amphotericin B infusion on alternate days for 30 days, total dose 15 mg/kg) was compared with three drug combinations (single injection of 5 mg/kg liposomal amphotericin B and 7-day 50 mg oral miltefosine or single 10-day 11 mg/kg intramuscular paromomycin; or 10 days each of miltefosine and paromomycin) in an open-label, parallel-group, non-inferiority, randomised controlled trial in two hospital sites in Bihar, India. Patients aged 5-60 years with parasitologically confirmed visceral leishmaniasis were randomly assigned one of the four treatments by the trial statistician by use of a computer-generated list. Clinical assessments were done at the end of treatment (15 days on combination treatment; 31 days for standard treatment) and after 45 days and 6 months. The primary endpoint was definitive cure (defined as no sign or symptom of visceral leishmaniasis and parasitologically cured to the last follow-up). Analyses were done both by intention to treat and per protocol. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00696969.
Between June, 2008, and July, 2009, 634 patients were assigned amphotericin B (n=157), liposomal amphotericin B with miltefosine (n=160) or paromomycin (n=158), or miltefosine and paromomycin (n=159). 618 patients were in the per-protocol population. There were two relapses in each group. The numbers with definitive cure at 6 months for the intention-to-treat population were 146 (cure rate 93·0%; CI 87·5-96·3) for amphotericin B, 156 (97·5%; 93·3-99·2) for liposomal amphotericin B and miltefosine, 154 (97·5%; 93·24-99·2) for liposomal amphotericin B and paromomycin, and 157 (98·7%; 95·1-99·8) for miltefosine and paromomycin. All combinations were non-inferior to the standard treatment, in both the intention-to-treat and per-protocol populations. Patients in the combination groups had fewer adverse events than did those assigned standard treatment.
Combination treatments for visceral leishmaniasis are efficacious and safe, and decrease the duration of therapy, thereby encouraging adherence and reducing emergence of drug-resistant parasites.
Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative and the Indian Council of Medical Research.
The Lancet 02/2011; 377(9764):477-86. · 38.28 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: In sub-Saharan Africa, visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is treated with either Pentostam(TM) (sodium antimony gluconate) or generic sodium stibogluconate (SSG), except in Uganda where Glucantime(®) (meglumine antimoniate) has been in use for at least a decade. Between January 2008 and February 2009, 54 Ethiopian VL patients were treated with Glucantime. The medical charts of these patients were reviewed to assess the effectiveness and safety profile of Glucantime in a routine healthcare setting. None of the patients from south Ethiopia (n=24) and 46.4% of the patients from north Ethiopia (n=30) were HIV co-infected. At completion of treatment (Day 31), cure rates were 78.6% (95% CI 59.0-91.7%) in north Ethiopia and 100% (95% CI 85.8-100%) in south Ethiopia. Thirty-three non-serious and six serious adverse events (two pancreatitis, one renal failure and three deaths) were observed in 26 patients. One-third of the non-serious adverse events were due to biochemical pancreatitis. During treatment, a case-fatality rate of 10.0% in north Ethiopia and 0.0% in south Ethiopia was noted. These data show that Glucantime can be as effective as Pentostam or SSG in HIV-negative patients. The data also point to clinical pancreatitis as a safety concern, especially in patients with HIV co-infection.
Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 11/2010; 104(11):706-12. · 2.16 Impact Factor
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Prabhat K Sinha,
Paul Roddy,
Pedro Pablo Palma,
Alice Kociejowski,
María Angeles Lima,
Vidya Nand Rabi Das,
Jitendra Gupta,
Nawin Kumar,
Gaurab Mitra,
Jean-François Saint-Sauveur,
Siju Seena, Manica Balasegaram,
Fernando Parreño,
Krishna Pandey
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ABSTRACT: We evaluated, through the prospective monitoring of 251 patients at Sadar Hospital in Bihar, India, the effectiveness and safety of 20 mg/kg body weight of liposomal amphotericin B for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis. The treatment success rates for the intention-to-treat, per protocol, and intention-to-treat worse-case scenario analyses were 98.8%, 99.6%, and 81.3%, respectively. Nearly one-half of patients experienced mild adverse events, but only 1% developed serious but non-life-threatening lips swelling. The lost to follow-up rate was 17.5%. Our findings indicate that the 20 mg/kg body weight treatment dosage is effective and safe under routine program conditions. Given that the exorbitant cost of liposomal amphotericin B is a barrier to its widespread use, we recommend further study to monitor and evaluate a lowered dosage and a shorter treatment course.
The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene 08/2010; 83(2):357-64. · 2.59 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Combination therapy for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis has increasingly been advocated as a way to increase treatment efficacy and tolerance, reduce treatment duration and cost, and limit the emergence of drug resistance. We reviewed the evidence and potential for combination therapy, and the criteria for the choice of drugs in such regimens. The first phase 2 results of combination regimens are promising, and have identified effective and safe regimens as short as 8 days. Several phase 3 trials are underway or planned in the Indian subcontinent and east Africa. The limited data available suggest that combination therapy is more cost-effective and reduces indirect costs for patients. Additional advantages are reduced treatment duration (8-17 days), with potentially better patient compliance and lesser burden on the health system. Only limited data are available on how best to prevent acquired resistance. Patients who are coinfected with visceral leishmaniasis and HIV could be a reservoir for development and spread of drug-resistant strains, calling for special precautions. The identification of a short, cheap, well-tolerated combination regimen that can be given in ambulatory care and needs minimal clinical monitoring will most likely have important public health implications. Effective monitoring systems and close regulations and policy will be needed to ensure effective implementation. Whether combination therapy could indeed help delay resistance, and how this is best achieved, will only be known in the long term.
The Lancet Infectious Diseases 03/2010; 10(3):184-94. · 17.39 Impact Factor
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Ahmed M Musa,
Brima Younis,
Ahmed Fadlalla,
Catherine Royce, Manica Balasegaram,
Monique Wasunna,
Asrat Hailu,
Tansy Edwards,
Raymond Omollo,
Mahmoud Mudawi,
Gilbert Kokwaro,
Ahmed El-Hassan,
Eltahir Khalil
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ABSTRACT: A recent study has shown that treatment of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) with the standard dose of 15 mg/kg/day of paromomycin sulphate (PM) for 21 days was not efficacious in patients in Sudan. We therefore decided to test the efficacy of paramomycin for a longer treatment duration (15 mg/kg/day for 28 days) and at the higher dose of 20 mg/kg/day for 21 days.
This randomized, open-label, dose-finding, phase II study assessed the two above high-dose PM treatment regimens. Patients with clinical features and positive bone-marrow aspirates for VL were enrolled. All patients received their assigned courses of PM intramuscularly and adverse events were monitored. Parasite clearance in bone-marrow aspirates was tested by microscopy at end of treatment (EOT, primary efficacy endpoint), 3 months (in patients who were not clinically well) and 6 months after EOT (secondary efficacy endpoint). Pharmacokinetic data were obtained from a subset of patients weighing over 30 kg.
42 patients (21 per group) aged between 4 and 60 years were enrolled. At EOT, 85% of patients (95% confidence interval [CI]: 63.7% to 97.0%) in the 20 mg/kg/day group and 90% of patients (95% CI: 69.6% to 98.8%) in the 15 mg/kg/day group had parasite clearance. Six months after treatment, efficacy was 80.0% (95% CI: 56.3% to 94.3%) and 81.0% (95% CI: 58.1% to 94.6%) in the 20 mg/kg/day and 15 mg/kg/day groups, respectively. There were no serious adverse events. Pharmacokinetic profiles suggested a difference between the two doses, although numbers of patients recruited were too few to make it significant (n = 3 and n = 6 in the 20 mg/kg/day and 15 mg/kg/day groups, respectively).
Data suggest that both high dose regimens were more efficacious than the standard 15 mg/kg/day PM for 21 days and could be further evaluated in phase III studies in East Africa.
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 01/2010; 4(10):e855. · 4.69 Impact Factor
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Asrat Hailu,
Ahmed Musa,
Monique Wasunna, Manica Balasegaram,
Sisay Yifru,
Getahun Mengistu,
Zewdu Hurissa,
Workagegnehu Hailu,
Teklu Weldegebreal,
Samson Tesfaye, [......],
Tansy Edwards,
Peter Smith,
Lawrence Muthami,
Catherine Royce,
Sally Ellis,
Moses Alobo,
Raymond Omollo,
Josephine Kesusu,
Rhoda Owiti,
John Kinuthia
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ABSTRACT: Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a major health problem in developing countries. The untreated disease is fatal, available treatment is expensive and often toxic, and drug resistance is increasing. Improved treatment options are needed. Paromomycin was shown to be an efficacious first-line treatment with low toxicity in India.
This was a 3-arm multicentre, open-label, randomized, controlled clinical trial to compare three treatment regimens for VL in East Africa: paromomycin sulphate (PM) at 15 mg/kg/day for 21 days versus sodium stibogluconate (SSG) at 20 mg/kg/day for 30 days; and the combination of both dose regimens for 17 days. The primary efficacy endpoint was cure based on parasite-free tissue aspirates taken 6 months after treatment.
Overall, 135 patients per arm were enrolled at five centres in Sudan (2 sites), Kenya (1) and Ethiopia (2), when the PM arm had to be discontinued due to poor efficacy. The trial has continued with the higher dose of PM as well as the combination of PM and SSG arms. These results will be reported later. Baseline patient characteristics were similar among treatment arms. The overall cure with PM was significantly inferior to that with SSG (63.8% versus 92.2%; difference 28.5%, 95%CI 18.8% to 38.8%, p<0.001). The efficacy of PM varied among centres and was significantly lower in Sudan (14.3% and 46.7%) than in Kenya (80.0%) and Ethiopia (75.0% and 96.6%). No major safety issues with PM were identified.
The efficacy of PM at 15 mg/kg/day for 21 days was inadequate, particularly in Sudan. The efficacy of higher doses and the combination treatment warrant further studies.
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 01/2010; 4(10):e709. · 4.69 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Visceral leishmaniasis is a systemic parasitic disease that is fatal unless treated. We assessed the cost and cost-effectiveness of alternative strategies for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis in the Indian subcontinent. In particular we examined whether combination therapies are a cost-effective alternative compared to monotherapies.
We assessed the cost-effectiveness of all possible mono- and combination therapies for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis in the Indian subcontinent (India, Nepal and Bangladesh) from a societal perspective using a decision analytical model based on a decision tree. Primary data collected in each country was combined with data from the literature and an expert poll (Delphi method). The cost per patient treated and average and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios expressed as cost per death averted were calculated. Extensive sensitivity analysis was done to evaluate the robustness of our estimations and conclusions. With a cost of US$92 per death averted, the combination miltefosine-paromomycin was the most cost-effective treatment strategy. The next best alternative was a combination of liposomal amphotericin B with paromomycin with an incremental cost-effectiveness of $652 per death averted. All other strategies were dominated with the exception of a single dose of 10mg per kg of liposomal amphotericin B. While strategies based on liposomal amphotericin B (AmBisome) were found to be the most effective, its current drug cost of US$20 per vial resulted in a higher average cost-effectiveness. Sensitivity analysis showed the conclusion to be robust to variations in the input parameters over their plausible range.
Combination treatments are a cost-effective alternative to current monotherapy for VL. Given their expected impact on the emergence of drug resistance, a switch to combination therapy should be considered once final results from clinical trials are available.
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 01/2010; 4(9). · 4.69 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is one of the most neglected parasitic diseases causing large scale mortality and morbidity among the poorest of the poor in the Indian subcontinent and Africa.
This review aims to describe the potential and the (lack of) current impact of newly developed treatments on the control of VL. It describes how the problem of an empty research pipeline is addressed, and discusses the emerging threat of incurable HIV/VL coinfection.
The literature was searched for drugs used in VL.
Research and development of VL drugs has received a financial boost but no new drugs are expected in the next 5 years. Only three new and highly effective treatments have been licensed in the past 10 years. These remain, however, largely inaccessible as VL control programs in the developing world are lacking. This is deserving of immediate and urgent attention, especially in the context of the rapidly expanding HIV/VL coinfection.
Expert Opinion on Emerging Drugs 10/2009; 14(3):395-410. · 3.21 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: This paper describes the effectiveness of first-line regimens for stage 2 human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) due to Trypanosoma brucei gambiense infection in nine Médecins Sans Frontières HAT treatment programmes in Angola, Republic of Congo, Sudan and Uganda. Regimens included eflornithine and standard- and short-course melarsoprol. Outcomes for 10461 naïve stage 2 patients fitting a standardised case definition and allocated to one of the above regimens were analysed by intention-to-treat analysis. Effectiveness was quantified by the case fatality rate (CFR) during treatment, the proportion probably and definitely cured and the Kaplan-Meier probability of relapse-free survival at 12 months and 24 months post admission. The CFR was similar for the standard- and short-course melarsoprol regimens (4.9% and 4.2%, respectively). The CFR for eflornithine was 1.2%. Kaplan-Meier survival probabilities varied from 71.4-91.8% at 1 year and 56.5-87.9% at 2 years for standard-course melarsoprol, to 73.0-91.1% at 1 year for short-course melarsoprol, and 79.9-97.4% at 1 year and 68.6-93.7% at 2 years for eflornithine. With the exception of one programme, survival at 12 months was >90% for eflornithine, whilst for melarsoprol it was <90% except in two sites. Eflornithine is recommended where feasible, especially in areas with low melarsoprol effectiveness.
Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 10/2008; 103(3):280-90. · 2.16 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: To assess the safety and effectiveness of eflornithine as first line treatment for human African trypanosomiasis.
Cohort study.
Control programme in Ibba, southern Sudan.
1055 adults and children newly diagnosed with second stage disease in a 16 month period.
Deaths, severe drug reactions, and cure at 24 months.
1055 patients received eflornithine for 14 days (400 mg/kg/day in adults and 600 mg/kg/day in a subgroup of 96 children). Overall, 2824 drug reactions (2.7 per patient) occurred during hospital stay, 1219 (43.2%) after the first week. Severe reactions affected 138 (13.1%) patients (mainly seizures, fever, diarrhoea, and bacterial infections), leading to 15 deaths. Risk factors for severe reactions included cerebrospinal fluid leucocyte counts > or =100x10(9)/l (adults: odds ratio 2.6, 95% confidence interval 1.5 to 4.6), seizures (adults: 5.9, 2.0 to 13.3), and stupor (children: 9.3, 2.5 to 34.2). Children receiving higher doses did not experience increased toxicity. Follow-up data were obtained for 924 (87.6%) patients at any follow-up but for only 533 (50.5%) at 24 months. Of 924 cases followed, 16 (1.7%) died during treatment, 70 (7.6%) relapsed, 15 (1.6%) died of disease, 403 (43.6%) were confirmed cured, and 420 (45.5%) were probably cured. The probability of event free survival at 24 months was 0.88 (0.86 to 0.91). Most (65.8%, 52/79) relapses and disease related deaths occurred after 12 months. Risk factors for relapse included being male (incidence rate ratio 2.42, 1.47 to 3.97) and cerebrospinal fluid leucocytosis: 20-99x10(9)/l (2.35, 1.36 to 4.06); > or =100x10(9)/l (1.87, 1.07 to 3.27). Higher doses did not yield better effectiveness among children (0.87 v 0.85, P=0.981). Conclusions Eflornithine shows acceptable safety and effectiveness as first line treatment for human African trypanosomiasis. Relapses did occur more than 12 months after treatment. Higher doses in children were well tolerated but showed no advantage in effectiveness.
BMJ (Clinical research ed.). 04/2008; 336(7646):705-8.
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ABSTRACT: In Sudan, two treatments are currently registered for visceral leishmaniasis: sodium stibogluconate (SSG) as first line and liposomal amphotericin B (AmBisome) as second line. We present 64 patients (52 relapse cases to SSG, 12 new but complicated cases) treated with AmBisome in eastern Sudan. AmBisome was administered at 2.5-8.2mg/kg (15-49mg/kg in total) per dose six times (days 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 15) as an intravenous infusion. We measured outcome according to clinical response and parasitological clearance (lymph node aspiration). Patient outcomes fell into three groups: group 1, clinical responders (cured) with a negative test of cure (n=35); group 2, clinical responders with a positive test of cure (n=19); group 3, clinical non-responders (failures) with a positive test of cure (n=10). Of the 10 failures, six were already relapse cases. All of group 3, and 15 from group 2, were also treated with additional SSG (20mg/kg intramuscularly daily for 30-50 d) with resulting clinical and parasitological improvement. Parasite persistence and clinical failure were associated with a higher parasite density on admission (P<0.002) and underlying immunosuppressive disease: tuberculosis (three cases) or HIV (two cases). Because AmBisome monotherapy may fail in Sudan, a combination of AmBisome and SSG is recommended for relapse cases.
Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 01/2007; 101(1):19-24. · 2.16 Impact Factor
