REVIEW article
Front. Mol. Biosci.
Sec. Molecular Diagnostics and Therapeutics
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2025.1573618
This article is part of the Research TopicDrug target discovery and exploitation in Intracellular ParasitesView all articles
Unravelling Drug Resistance in Leishmaniasis: Genomic Adaptations and Emerging Therapies
Provisionally accepted
- 1Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, Haryana, India
- 2Aarupadai Veedu Medical College & Hospital, Puducherry, India
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Leishmaniasis remains a significant global health challenge, with over a billion people at risk of infection and limited effective treatment options due to escalating drug resistance. This review explores the underlying mechanisms of drug resistance in Leishmania species, focusing on genomic plasticity as a driving factor for survival and adaptation. Key mechanisms, including genetic mutations, gene amplification, chromosomal rearrangements, and efflux transporters, contribute to the parasite's ability to evade existing therapies. Advances in genomic and proteomic studies have provided deeper insights into these resistance pathways, enabling the development of novel therapeutic strategies. Additionally, this review highlights current therapeutic approaches, including combination therapies and potential new drug candidates, that address multidrug resistance and explore the vulnerabilities of Leishmania. Understanding these mechanisms and their clinical implications is essential for developing targeted interventions that improve treatment outcomes and combat resistance in leishmaniasis.
Keywords: Leishmaniasis, Drug Resistance, Genomic plasticity, Antileishmanial therapy, Drug Targets
Received: 09 Feb 2025; Accepted: 12 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Bhusal, Sinha, Chechi and Sehgal. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Rakesh Sehgal, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, 160 012, Haryana, India
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