Amiodarone and Trypanosoma cruzi parasitemia in patients with Chagas disease

Abstract

Chagas disease (ChD) is a main cause of cardiopathy in Latin America, causing thousands of deaths each year. Amiodarone has been widely used as antiarrhythmic drug to prevent recurrences of malignant ventricular arrhythmias in patients with ChD. Although the antiarrhythmic effects of amiodarone are well known, there are some evidences that it also has anti- Trypanosoma cruzi activity, disrupting Ca 2+ homeostasis and blocking oxidosqualenecyclase enzyme in T. cruzi, causing ultrastructural damage. Nevertheless, data showing antiparasitic effects of amiodarone in human are lacking, with only one case report demonstrating decrease in parasite load after amiodarone use.

Publication
International Journal of Cardiology