African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 2 (11), pp. 474-476, November 2003

ISSN 1684-5315  © 2003 Academic Journals

Short communication

In vitro activity of commercial formulation and active principle of trypanocidal drugs against blooststreams forms of Trypanosoma brucei gambiense

Clarisse Lekane Likeufack¹, Lisette Kohagne Tongue¹, and Philippe Truc^1,2 *

¹Organisation de Coordination pour la lutte contre les Endémies en Afrique Centrale (OCEAC), Department of Research and Control of Human African Trypanosomiasis, BP 288, Yaounde, Cameroon.

²Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, IRD, Research Unit 35 BP 1857, Yaounde, Cameroon.

*Corresponding author. Mailing address: OCEAC, BP 288, Yaounde, Cameroon. Phone: + 237 984 60 57. Fax: + 237 220 18 54. E-mail: truc@iccnet.cm.

Accepted 14 October 2003

The in vitro trypanocidal activities of 4 commercial formulations Ornidyl®, Pentamidine isethionate®, Germanin® and Lampit® and their corresponding active principles (Dl-difluoromethylornithine, pentamidine isethionate, suramine and 5-nitrofuran) were compared against Trypanosoma brucei gambiense. Differences of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) were observed between Ornidyl® and Dl-difluoromethylornithine and between Lampit® and 5-nitrofuran. For RO 15 strain and the comparison of Ornidyl®/ DFMO, the MIC when using the commercial drug was more than twice the MIC value obtained with the active principle. For all 3 trypanosome strains, MICs were identical for Lampit® and 5-nitrofuran but the MIC with the commercial formulation was twice the MIC obtained with the active principle. The active principles, rather than commercial formulations, should be used for standardization of in vitro assay protocols.

Key words: In vitro activity, trypanocidal drugs, commercial formulations, Trypanosoma brucei gambiense.