Dados do Trabalho

Título

EXPLORING THE EFFICACY OF BACTERIAL CELLULOSE BIOCURATIVES FOR THE TOPICAL TREATMENT OF CUTANEOUS LEISHMANIASIS

Introdução

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in Brazil is mainly caused by Leishmania braziliensis. Pentavalent antimonials (Sbv) remain the first-line drug on treatment for CL despite the limitations regarding toxicity and increasing reports of therapeutic failure. Consequently, the exploration of safe, efficient, and easily applicable alternative treatment options is necessary. We hypothesized that application of BC biocuratives to CL lesions could aid lesion healing and reduce exposure to SBv cycles

Objetivo (s)

Our objective is explore the application of BC biocuratives in CL lesions caused by Leishmania braziliensis.

Material e Métodos

We performed 2 pilot, proof-of-concept trials, to evaluate the outcome and efficacy of topical application of BC in CL patients. To evaluate the outcome 20 patients were randomized in two groups assigned to receive either parenteral Sbv alone or parenteral Sbv plus topically applied BC. In a second time We next conducted a larger trial to further evalute the efficacy of the association of parenteral SBv + topical BC. Control patients were treated with SBv alone or parenteral SBv + placebo.

Resultados e Conclusão

Our first results shows that CL patients treated with Sbv + BC had a significantly higher cure rate at 60 days post initiation of treatment compared to CL patients treated with Sbv alone (p=0.01). At day 90 post initiation of treatment, cure rate was similar in the two groups as was overall healing time. Efficacy evaluated results shows that patients who received SBv plus BC had a significantly shorter healing time (p=0.03) compared with SBv alone and required fewer additional cycles of SBv (p=0.02). However, we did not observe significant differences comparing the use of BC or placebo. Collectively, these studies indicate that combined therapy (SBv + BC) can reduce healing time and the need for additional cycles of SBv in CL patients. Our results also suggest that CL lesion washing and covering can positively impact the outcome of treatment with BC.

Palavras-chave

leishmaniasis, biomaterials, wound healing

Agradecimentos

CNPq, FIOCRUZ, INCT-DT