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Theileria drug resistance: targeting the mitochondria
Theileria drug resistance is spreading because bovine theileriosis treatment leans on a single drug, buparvaquone. A drug-repurposing screen of the Global Health Priority Box found that rotenone kills Theileria annulata infected cells, keeps working against buparvaquone-resistant cells, and collapses their mitochondrial energy supply. That makes mitochondrial bioenergetics a resistance-independent target for next-generation antiparasitic drugs. Why theileria drug resistance has become a livestock problem Bovine theileriosis is a severe tick-borne disease, and Theileria annulata is the parasite behind it across tropical and subtropical regions. Herds pay for the infection in mortality, reduced milk yield, lost productivity and reproductive impairment. Commercial operations feel it most, because they have no second drug class…
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Drug Repurposing for Antimicrobial Resistance: Turning Old Drugs Into New Weapons
The numbers hit hard. In 2019, bacterial antimicrobial resistance directly killed 1.27 million people. That’s more than HIV or malaria. And it contributed to nearly 5 million deaths overall. By 2050, if we keep going the way we are, we could hit 10 million deaths a year from resistant infections. The WHO has been shouting from the rooftops for years, but the pipeline for new antibiotics is still dangerously thin. There’s a reason for that, and it’s not just about the science. Developing a new antibiotic costs somewhere north of $1.6 billion and takes 10 to 17 years. And here’s the kicker: antibiotics are prescribed in short courses and held…
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Closantel and Antibiotic Resistance: How a Sheep Dewormer Could Fight Superbugs
There’s a drug sitting in barns across the world that most human doctors have never heard of. It’s used to treat liver flukes in cattle and sheep, and it’s been around for decades. But researchers are now looking at this same drug—closantel—and wondering if it might help us fight one of the biggest threats to human health: antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The Problem Nobody Wants to Talk About Let me be direct: we’re losing the war against superbugs. The World Health Organization projects that antibiotic resistance could cause 10 million deaths every year by 2050. That number is staggering, and it’s not science fiction—it’s a conservative estimate based on current trends. Gram-negative…
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Synriam and Praziquantel: A New Combination Therapy for Schistosomiasis
The Persistent Challenge of Schistosomiasis Schistosomiasis remains one of the most neglected tropical diseases worldwide, affecting hundreds of millions of people across Africa, Asia, and South America. Despite decades of control efforts, this parasitic infection continues to burden resource-limited communities where access to clean water and adequate sanitation remains scarce. For years, praziquantel has stood as the primary weapon against schistosomiasis. It works, it is relatively safe, and it does not break the bank. But the drug has its problems. Most notably, praziquantel shows reduced efficacy against juvenile worms, particularly those in the early stages of development. This creates a frustrating gap: infected individuals carry immature parasites that survive standard…
