Paola García-Huertas

University CES | CES · Medicina Tropical

During its life cycle, Trypanosoma cruzi undergoes physiological modifications in order to adapt to insect vector and mammalian host conditions. Metacyclogenesis is essential, as the parasite acquires the ability to infect a variety of mammalian species, including humans, in which pathology is caused. In this work, the transcriptomes of metacyclic...

Chagas disease, caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, is treated with only two drugs; benznidazole and nifurtimox. These drugs have some disadvantages, including their efficacy only in the acute or early infection phases, adverse effects during their use, and the resistance that the parasite has developed to their activity. Therefore, it is necessary to ide...

Introduction: The Zika virus has generated serious epidemics in the different countries where it has been reported and Colombia has not been the exception. Although in these epidemics Aedes aegypti traditionally has been the primary vector, other species could also be involved in the transmission. Methods: Mosquitoes were captured with entomologic...

In this work, the synthesis and characterization of seven complexes (1–7) was performed with Zn(II), Cu(II), Co(II) and Ni(II) transition metals and ligands derived from bis(3,5-dimethylpyrazol-1-yl)methane (bdmpzm) and bis(3,5-dimethyl-4-nitro-1H-pyrazolyl)methane (L). The complexes were obtained in high yields, isolated as air-stable solids and c...

El virus Zika ha generado serias epidemias en los diferentes países en donde se ha reportado, Colombia no ha sido la excepción. Aunque en estas epidemias, el vector principal ha sido Aedes aegypti Linnaeus (Diptera Culicidae), y en algunos casos, Ae. albopictus Skuse (Diptera Culicidae), otras especies también podrían estar implicadas en la transmi...

Piperaceae species are abundant in the tropics and are important components of secondary vegetation. Many of these plants have received considerable attention due to their wide range of biological activities. Here, the trypanocidal activity of extracts and fractions with different polarities obtained from Colombian Piper jericoense plant was evalua...

Nifurtimox (Nfx) and benznidazole (Bz) are the current drugs used for the treatment of Chagas disease. The mechanisms of action and resistance to these drugs in this parasite are poorly known. Prostaglandin F2α synthase or old yellow enzyme (OYE), an NAD(P)H flavin oxidoreductase, has been involved in the activation pathway of other trypanocidal dr...

The improvement of Chagas disease treatment is focused not only on the development of new drugs but also in understanding mechanisms of action and resistance to drugs conventionally used. Thus, some strategies aim to detect specific changes in proteins between sensitive and resistant parasites and to evaluate the role played in these processes by f...

The reaction of CrCl36H2O with the ligand bis(3,5-dimethylpyrazol-1-yl)methane (L) yielded the cationic complex [(Cr(L)(H2O)2Cl2]⁺, which crystallized as the chloride trihydrate [(Cr(L)(H2O)2Cl2]Cl·3H2O. The chromium complex was characterized by elemental analysis, electrical conductivity, Infrared and Ultraviolet/Visible spectroscopy. The crystal...

Currently, the only available treatments for Trypanosoma cruzi are benznidazole (Bz) and nifurtimox (Nfx). The mechanisms of action and resistance to these drugs in this parasite are not complete known. In order to identify differentially expressed transcripts between sensitive and resistant parasites, a massive pyrosequencing of the T. cruzi trans...

Benznidazole (Bz) and Nifurtimox (Nfx) are the first choice treatment for clinical management of acute stage Chagas disease. These are pro]drugs that need to be activated within the parasite by an NADH]dependent type]I nitroreductase (TcNTR). Resistance of Trypanosoma cruzi to these compounds can be mediated by alterations in the TcNTR gene copy nu...

Introduction: The plant Solanum nudum (Solanaceae) is extensively used for the treatment of malaria-related symptoms in traditional medicine practices in the Colombian Pacific. Recently, it has become a significant source of promising new molecules for developing a pharmaceutical malaria treatment. Objective: This research aimed to evaluate the...

Introducción. La planta Solanum nudum es ampliamente usada en la medicina tradicional del Pacífico colombiano para tratar las fiebres y la malaria, o paludismo, y se ha convertido en una fuente de nuevas moléculas promisorias. Objetivo. Evaluar el efecto citotóxico y daño genético de extractos estandarizados de S. nudum en diferentes modelos celula...