Anti-parasitic activity of polyether ionophores

Abstract

Despite some progress in recent years, the fight against parasitic diseases still remains a great challenge. Parasitic diseases affect primarily (but not exclusively) the poorest people living in underdeveloped regions of the world. The distribution of parasitoses are linked to tropical and subtropical climate conditions, to population growth and to impoverishment. If not treated, parasitic diseases may lead to serious health problems, and even death. Particularly vulnerable groups include infants and young children, pregnant women and immunocompromised individuals. Polyether ionophore antibiotics (ionophores), traditionally used in veterinary medicine as anti-coccidial feed additives and non-hormonal growth promoters, are of considerable interest, as they have been found to be highly effective agents against various parasites, both in vitro and in vivo. This review summarizes the anti-parasitic effects of the most important polyether ionophores against parasites that are responsible for a number of animal and human parasitic diseases. Recent findings and advances that support the potential of polyether ionophore antibiotics as novel anti-parasitic drug candidates are also presented and discussed.

Combination of Bacillus licheniformis and Salinomycin: Effect on the Growth Performance and GIT Microbial Populations of Broiler Chickens

“…Salinomycin is globally used as an agent to prevent coccidiosis in poultry production; however, it has a strong ability to modulate the birds' GIT microbial populations [15]. Its activity based on transporting ions (K + and Na + ) and disrupting the cell membrane ion gradient is mainly directed against Gram-positive microorganisms [16,17]. The combination of salinomycin and other compounds such as antimicrobials, bacteriocins, probiotics, prebiotics, butyrate, and comparisons of these materials have been repeatedly examined, primarily for the control of coccidiosis [18][19][20][21][22].…”

Anti-trypanosomal activity of doubly modified salinomycin derivatives

“…Polyether ionophores have been used in veterinary medicine for decades as non-hormonal growth promoters and as agents to control coccidiosis [1][2]. In addition to the industrial use of ionophores in animal husbandry [3], some of them show anti-fungal, anti-viral, and anti-cancer activity [4][5][6].…”

Synthesis and Anticancer Activity of Tertiary Amides of Salinomycin and Their C20‐oxo Analogues

“…Emerging more recently as novel anticancer agents of natural origin are select polyether ionophores, such as salinomycin . Salinomycin ( SAL , 1 , Scheme ), isolated from Streptomyces albus , exhibits a broad spectrum of bioactivity . SAL is commercially used as a food additive and a growth promoter due to its potent coccidiostatic and antibacterial properties .…”

“…[11][12][13][14] Salinomycin (SAL, 1, Scheme 1), isolated from Streptomyces albus, [15] exhibits a broad spectrum of bioactivity. [16,17] SAL is commercially used as a food additive and a growth promoter due to its potent coccidiostatic and antibacterial properties. [18] More recently, SAL has been also found to exhibit potent antifungal, antiparasitic and antiviral activity, [16,17] and extensive screening studies by Gupta et al identified SAL as a very promising anticancer agent.…”

“…[16,17] SAL is commercially used as a food additive and a growth promoter due to its potent coccidiostatic and antibacterial properties. [18] More recently, SAL has been also found to exhibit potent antifungal, antiparasitic and antiviral activity, [16,17] and extensive screening studies by Gupta et al identified SAL as a very promising anticancer agent. [19] Among about 16,000 compounds tested, SAL has shown the most potent activity against breast cancer stem cells (CSCs), [19] a small sub-population of cells within tumors with capabilities of selfrenewal, differentiation, and tumorigenicity.…”