Potential new drugs for fox tapeworm infection in humans: Scientists are reporting development and testing of a new series of drugs that could finally stop the fox tapeworm which causes a rare but life-threatening disease in humans dead in its tracks. The report shows that specific organometallic substances that help combat cancer are also the surprising best new hope for a treatment against tapeworm infection.
The group prepared and evaluated several ruthenium complexes (see structure)
as potential drugs against the fox tapeworm. Some were effective in killing the tapeworms and also were less toxic on normal cells in laboratory dish tests, making them prime candidates for further development as treatments for AE.
