Tropical disease cure seen in desert plant
Published: March 17, 2005
Ohio State University researchers have found promise in treating two tropical diseases with extracts from two plants common in the Mojave Desert.
The chemicals extracted from the dotted dalia and the Mojave dalia were found to kill the protozoa that cause African sleeping sickness and leishmaniasis.
While neither potentially fatal disease is common in North America, both are prevalent in dozens of countries worldwide, particularly developing nations.
The drugs currently used to treat both illnesses are costly and some are toxic, said Karl Werbovetz, a study co-author and an assistant professor of medicinal chemistry and pharmacognosy at Ohio State.
Leishmaniasis is transmitted by sand flies, while African sleeping sickness is transmitted by tsetse flies.
About 2 million new cases of leishmaniasis are reported each year, according to the World Health Organization.The disease is found in Mexico, Central and South America, Southern Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.
According to WHO, African sleeping sickness threatens more than 60 million people in 36 countries of sub-Saharan Africa.
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