Objective
Chagas' disease is a particularly harmful illness affecting at least twenty million people in South America and for which there is no known effective therapy. The agent responsible for the disease is Trypanosoma cruzi which appears to be sensitive to radical producing agents. The activity of some transition metal (TM) complexes as drugs and chemotherapeuticagents has also been reported. The objective of the project is the application of TM complexes as potential drugs against Chagas' disease and other tropical diseases. The first stage of the project was based on the synthesis of TM complexes of ruthenium, copper and platinum of commercial drugs and on the synthesis of nitroheterocyclic ligands. Complexes were synthesised by contacting in a solvent, metal salts or complexes and with ligands. The resulting complexes are investigated by elemental analysis and classical spectroscopical methods. The biological tests are run on the epimastigote form of Trypanosoma cruzi.
A number of new compounds were prepared by interaction of appropriate Cu, Ru and Pt complexes with organic molecules known to have some antiparasitic activity such as nitroimidazoles, substituted imidazoles and quinolines. The new compounds were characterised by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and analytical data. Those that appeared adequate were used in biological tests against the epimastigote form of Trypanosoma cruzi. The most interesting results were obtained from the interaction of clotrimazole (CTZ) with an Ru complex leading to a new organic molecule not yet fully characterised. This compound displays a remarkably high lethal effect on parasites and preliminary tests show it not to be toxic towards mammal cells. Four Ru quinoline complexes and six cuquinoline complexes have been prepared. None of these complexes are active against Chagas' disease but will be tested against malaria. The investigation of the CTZ compound against Chagas' disease constitutes the main objective of the next period o f research. A second aspect will be the extension of the programme to malaria by investigating transition metal-quinoline complexes.
The project is also directed to the application of some TM complexes to olefin metathesis reactions. This work is in its preliminary stages.
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Programme(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
4000 LIEGE
Belgium
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.