The Secret Weapon Against Leishmaniasis

Leishmaniasis is a sneaky parasite that causes a lot of trouble around the world. It is a big problem for global health, but we do not have many good treatments for it. Researchers are working on a new drug called DNDI-6174. This drug is special because it can be taken by mouth. It is still being tested, but it shows promise in fighting leishmaniasis. To test this drug, scientists needed a way to measure it in different parts of the body. They came up with a clever method using a fancy machine called UPLC-MS/MS. This machine can spot tiny amounts of the drug in blood and organs like skin, spleen, and liver. The team had to figure out the best way to prepare these samples. They found that using an enzyme called collagenase A worked better than just smashing the tissues. The scientists also needed to make sure their measurements were accurate. They used human blood as a stand-in to check their results. This way, they could be sure their measurements were reliable. They also tested how well they could recover the drug from the samples. The results were good, with a consistent recovery rate. One big question was whether the drug would stay stable in the body. The team tested this under different conditions and found that DNDI-6174 held up well. This is important because it means the drug can be trusted to work as expected. All this testing was done using mice with a skin infection similar to human leishmaniasis. The goal was to see how the drug behaves in the body. The results were promising, showing that DNDI-6174 could be a strong candidate for human trials. This research is a big step forward in the fight against leishmaniasis.