Cryptosporidium and Toxoplasma are parasites that have caused problems worldwide. Cryptosporidium causes severe watery diarrhoea and may be fatal in immunocompromised patients and in infants. Nitazoxanide is the only agent currently approved by the FDA, but its efficacy is limited. Toxoplasmosis is also a problem in the immunocompromised, as currently available treatment options have limited efficacy and patient tolerance can be poor. In the present investigation, we screened libraries of epigenetic compounds to identify those that inhibited C. parvum growth. Nullscript was identified as a compound with an inhibitory effect on C. parvum and T. gondii growth, and was less toxic to host cells. Nullscript was also able to significantly decrease oocyst excretion in C. parvum-infected SCID mice.

隐孢子虫和弓形虫是在世界范围内引起问题的寄生虫。隐孢子虫会导致严重的水样腹泻，对免疫功能低下的患者和婴儿可能是致命的。硝唑尼特是目前 FDA 批准的唯一药物，但其疗效有限。弓形虫病也是免疫功能低下患者的一个问题，因为目前可用的治疗方案疗效有限，患者耐受性可能很差。在本研究中，我们筛选了表观遗传化合物文库，以确定那些抑制C. parvum生长的化合物。Nullscript 被鉴定为对C. parvum和T. gondii具有抑制作用的化合物生长，并且对宿主细胞的毒性较小。Nullscript 还能够显着减少C. parvum感染的 SCID 小鼠的卵囊排泄。