Therapeutic Efficacy of Orally Administered Nitrofurantoin against Animal African Trypanosomosis Caused by Trypanosoma congolense Infection

Animal African trypanosomosis (AAT) leads to emaciation and low productivity in infected animals. Only six drugs are commercially available against AAT; they have severe side effects and face parasite resistance. Thus, the development of novel trypanocidal drugs is urgently needed. Nitrofurantoin, an antimicrobial, is used for treating bacterial urinary tract infections. Recently, we reported the trypanocidal effects of nitrofurantoin and its analogs in vitro. Furthermore, a nitrofurantoin analog, nifurtimox, is currently used to treat Chagas disease and chronic human African trypanosomiasis. Thus, this study was aimed at evaluating the in vivo efficacy of nitrofurantoin in treating AAT caused by Trypanosoma congolense. Nitrofurantoin was orally administered for 7 consecutive days from 4 days post-infection in T. congolense infected mice, and the animals were observed for 28 days. Compared to the control group, the treatment group showed significantly suppressed parasitemia at 6 days post-infection. Furthermore, survival was significantly prolonged in the group treated with at least 10 mg/kg nitrofurantoin. Moreover, 100% survival and cure was achieved with a dose of nitrofurantoin higher than 30 mg/kg. Thus, oral nitrofurantoin administration has potential trypanocidal efficacy against T. congolense induced AAT. This preliminary data will serve as a benchmark when comparing future nitrofurantoin-related compounds, which can overcome the significant shortcomings of nitrofurantoin that preclude its viable use in livestock.