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Modes of Action of Antiprotozoal Agents

  • Chapter
Chemotherapy of Parasitic Diseases

Abstract

There are relatively few antiprotozoal agents compared with the many antibiotics available for the treatment of bacterial infections. Similarities in host and eukaryotic parasite metabolism have made development of specific chemotherapeutic agents difficult and have necessitated the use of agents that often exhibit limited specificity for the parasite and excessive toxicity to the host. This chapter examines the mechanisms by which antiprotozoal agents exert their effects. Information on modes of action of several antiprotozoals is lacking either because little research has been undertaken to define the mechanisms or because primary and secondary drug effects have been difficult to differentiate.

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Author notes

  1. Ronald L. Stotish

    Present address: Department of Chemotherapy and Immunology, American Cyanamid, Princeton, New Jersey, 08540, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Infectious Disease, Health Sciences Center, University of Colorado, Denver, Colorado, 80262, USA

    Douglas L. Looker & J. Joseph Marr

  2. Merck Institute for Therapeutic Research, Rahway, New Jersey, 07065, USA

    Ronald L. Stotish

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  1. Douglas L. Looker
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  2. J. Joseph Marr
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Merck Institute for Therapeutic Research, Rahway, New Jersey, USA

    William C. Campbell

  2. Merck Sharp & Dohme Research Laboratories, Rahway, New Jersey, USA

    Robert S. Rew

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© 1986 Plenum Press, New York

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Looker, D.L., Marr, J.J., Stotish, R.L. (1986). Modes of Action of Antiprotozoal Agents. In: Campbell, W.C., Rew, R.S. (eds) Chemotherapy of Parasitic Diseases. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-1233-8_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-1233-8_9

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