Potentiality of vanadium compounds as anti-parasitic agents

Research efforts on the medicinal chemistry of vanadium have been mainly focused whether on improving biodistribution and tolerability of the vanadium insulin-enhancing core or on developing potential anti-tumor compounds. Despite the fact that the World Health Organization statistics show that parasitic diseases are among the most prevalent illnesses worldwide, work on vanadium compounds for the potential treatment of some of these diseases has only recently arisen. This review focuses on recent attempts to develop vanadium-based potential anti-parasitic agents, mainly active against the parasites causing American trypanosomiasis (Chagas disease), leishmaniasis and amoebiasis. In addition, the search for new therapeutic uses of some previously known bioactive vanadium compounds is included. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.