Preclinical data do not support the use of amiodarone or dronedarone as antiparasitic drugs for Chagas disease at the approved human dosing regimen

By Francisco AF, Chen Gong WW, Sykes ML, Escudié F, Scandale I, Olmo F, Shackleford DM, Zulfiqar B, Kratz JM, Pham T, Saunders J, Hu M, Avery VM, Charman SA., Kelly JM, Chatelain E. Frontiers in Tropical Diseases 2023, 4. doi: doi.org/10.3389/fitd.2023.1254061

Summary: Two approved antiarrhythmic agents, amiodarone and dronedarone, are reported to have potential for the management of Chagas disease patients with heart pathology. It has also been suggested that they have trypanocidal activity against Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease. The authors of this paper assessed their activity against T. cruzi to determine the potential for repurposing these drugs as therapies for Chagas disease. Both were found to be inactive or cytotoxic in a variety of different mammalian cell lines, and antiparasitic activity was not observed in a bioluminescent murine model. While amiodarone and dronedarone may have potential as antiarrhythmic agents in Chagas patients with cardiomyopathy, it is unlikely they will have a trypanocidal effect in patients

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