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Antiamoebic properties of the actinomycete metabolites echinomycin A and tirandamycin A

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Abstract

Entamoeba histolytica infects 50 million people per year, causing 100,000 deaths worldwide. The primary treatment for amoebiasis is metronidazole. However, increased pathogen resistance combined with the drug’s toxic side effects encourages a search for alternative therapeutic agents. Secondary metabolites from marine bacteria are a promising resource for antiprotozoan drug discovery. In this study, extracts from a collection of marine-derived actinomycetes were screened for antiamoebic properties, and the activities of antibiotics echinomycin A and tirandamycin A are shown. Both antibiotics inhibited the in vitro growth of a E. histolytica laboratory strain (HM-1:IMSS) and a clinical isolate (Colombia, Col) at 30- to 60-μM concentrations. EIC50 (estimated inhibitory concentration) values were comparable for both antibiotics (44.3–46.3 μM) against the E. histolytica clinical isolate.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Regine LanFranchi for technical assistance. The E. histolytica HM-1:IMSS strain was provided by Sam Stanley and Lynne Foster at Washington University, St Louis, MO, USA. The E. histolytica Col strain was obtained from Dan Eichinger at New York University, NY, USA. A. Espinosa was supported by the RI-INBRE Award # 2P20RR016457-10 and 2P20RR016457-11 from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), NIH. The content of this report is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NCRR or the NIH. This research was further supported by NOAA Grant NA04OAR4600193 to D. Rowley. The RI-INBRE Core Facility used in this study was funded by the NIH, NCRR (Grant P20-RR016457).

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Author notes

  1. Aaron M. Socha

    Present address: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Bronx Community College, Bronx, NY, 10453, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Roger Williams University, One Old Ferry Road, Bristol, RI, 02809, USA

    Avelina Espinosa & Erica Ryke

  2. Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, 02881, USA

    Aaron M. Socha & David C. Rowley

Authors
  1. Avelina Espinosa
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  2. Aaron M. Socha
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  3. Erica Ryke
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  4. David C. Rowley
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Correspondence to Avelina Espinosa.

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Espinosa, A., Socha, A.M., Ryke, E. et al. Antiamoebic properties of the actinomycete metabolites echinomycin A and tirandamycin A. Parasitol Res 111, 2473–2477 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-012-3019-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-012-3019-2

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