Re: Probable neuroimmunological link between Toxoplasmaand cytomegalovirus infections and personality changes in the human host

[Guest guest]

Nelly, this is fascinating. I took a quick look at flurazepam, which

is listed as a treatment for insomnia.

When patients report episodes of acute respiratory distress, in the

absence of an obvious physiological cause this is often interpreted

as " panic attack " and benzodiazepine drugs may be prescribed.

Since episodic respiratory distress is often referred to as a key

symptom of Babesiosis, it is tempting to speculate that some portion

of these cases are actually some variation of that malaria-like

infection. God knows where it is on my PC, but I do recall reading

that the WA-1 variant discovered on the pacific coast

is " morphologically identical " to p. falciparum.

Though I haven't seen published data, I recall recently reading here

a claim that Babesiosis is now believed to be nearly as widespread

as Lyme in the latter diseases " endemic areas. "

This is pure speculation - and the full text of this doesn't make

clear to me whether other benzodiazepines share the antimicrobial

effect of flurazepam.

Thanks for posting this.

>

> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?

cmd=Retrieve & db=pubmed & dopt=Abstract & list_uids=15957374 & query_hl=8

>

> Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2002 Oct;46(10):3197-207.

Related Articles, Links

>

>

> Ligands of the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor are potent

inhibitors of Plasmodium falciparum and Toxoplasma gondii in vitro.

>

> Dzierszinski F, Coppin A, Mortuaire M, Dewailly E, Slomianny C,

Ameisen JC, DeBels F, Tomavo S.

>

> Equipe de Parasitologie Moleculaire, Laboratoire de Chimie

Biologique, CNRS UMR 8576, Paris, France.

>

> The increase in resistance of the malaria parasite Plasmodium

falciparum to currently available drugs demands the development of

new antimalarial agents. In this quest, ****we have found that

ligands to the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor such as

flurazepam, an agonist of the benzodiazepine family, and PK11195, an

antagonist derived from isoquinoline, were active against Plasmodium

falciparum.**** These two compounds effectively and rapidly

inhibited parasite growth in vitro, irrespective of parasite

resistance to chloroquine and mefloquine. Treatment with both drugs

induced a sharp and consistent decline in parasitemia, a complete

inhibition of parasite replication, and the destruction of parasites

within the host red blood cells. Using electron microscopy, we

showed that dramatic morphological changes, involving swollen

endoplasmic reticulum and the reduction of hemozoin, were consistent

with parasite death. The potent activities of flurazepam and PK11195

were also evaluated for antagonist or synergistic effects with

currently used antimalarial drugs such as chloroquine and

mefloquine. *****Moreover, flurazepam was found to be active against

Toxoplasma gondii, another member of the phylum Apicomplexa. Taken

together, our results indicated that benzodiazepines could be

considered promising candidates in the treatment of both malaria and

toxoplasmosis.****