Metal complexes as chemotherapeutic agents against tropical diseases: Trypanosomiasis, malaria and leishmaniasis

Parasitic diseases represent a major world health problem with very limited therapeutic options, most of the available treatments being decades old and suffering from limited efficacy and/or undesirable collateral effects. The use of metal complexes as chemotherapeutic agents against these ailments appears as a very attractive alternative. Although the design of metal complexes with good therapeutic index is still rather empirical, a number of potential metal-based antiparasitic drugs have become available. In this review, advances in the use of metal complexes for the treatment of trypanosomiasis, malaria, and leishmaniasis as important representatives of the general area of tropical diseases is described.