Protozoal infections caused by Plasmodium falciparum, Trypanosoma cruzi, Leishmania mexicana, Giardia lamblia, and Trichomonas vaginalis etc. are responsible for health, social and economic issues in tropical and sub-tropical regions. These infections mainly account for morbidity and mortality worldwide affecting more than 500 million people every year. These are popularly known as Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) since they receive relatively little attention in terms of surveillance, prevention and treatment. Poor sanitation and hygienic conditions, development of resistant strains and toxicity of current anti-protozoal regimens are the major factors responsible for the increase in global burden of protozoan diseases. This provides strong impetus for the development of effective, safe drugs with long shelf-life in tropical conditions along with low incidence of resistance. Apart from de novo drug discovery, the re-positioning and re-engineering of existing drugs or drug like molecules with known pharmacokinetics and established target profiles are ideal starting points for identifying new chemical entities. The goal of the present Research Topic is to collect and update the scientific community working on protozoal infections about the drugs/promising scaffolds developed/under-development for tackling these endemic protozoal infections with an emphasis on Structure Activity Relationship along with target validation. We particularly welcome Original Research, Mini-reviews, and Review articles.
Protozoal infections caused by Plasmodium falciparum, Trypanosoma cruzi, Leishmania mexicana, Giardia lamblia, and Trichomonas vaginalis etc. are responsible for health, social and economic issues in tropical and sub-tropical regions. These infections mainly account for morbidity and mortality worldwide affecting more than 500 million people every year. These are popularly known as Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) since they receive relatively little attention in terms of surveillance, prevention and treatment. Poor sanitation and hygienic conditions, development of resistant strains and toxicity of current anti-protozoal regimens are the major factors responsible for the increase in global burden of protozoan diseases. This provides strong impetus for the development of effective, safe drugs with long shelf-life in tropical conditions along with low incidence of resistance. Apart from de novo drug discovery, the re-positioning and re-engineering of existing drugs or drug like molecules with known pharmacokinetics and established target profiles are ideal starting points for identifying new chemical entities. The goal of the present Research Topic is to collect and update the scientific community working on protozoal infections about the drugs/promising scaffolds developed/under-development for tackling these endemic protozoal infections with an emphasis on Structure Activity Relationship along with target validation. We particularly welcome Original Research, Mini-reviews, and Review articles.