MECHANISMS OF DRUG-RESISTANCE IN LEISHMANIA

The emergence of drug resistance in protozoan parasites is a major obstacle to their control. Since vaccines are not yet in sight for several of these parasites, there is an urgent need to develop new and better drugs. These antimicrobial agents will possibly be more expensive, and will therefore impose an additional burden in health-care costs and in the planning of public health policies of the developing countries. A better understanding of drug resistance, to try to circumvent or overcome it, and the search for new specific cellular targets of parasites are warranted. The development, in vitro, of drug-resistant parasite cell lines has been instrumental in our understanding of the mechanisms of drug resistance in parasitic protozoans. Marc Ouellette and Barbara Papadopoulou here present an overview of the recent progress on the elucidation of mechanisms of drug resistance in the protozoan parasite Leishmania, selected under laboratory conditions.