Aromatic diamidines as antiparasitic agents.

Parasitic infections are widespread in developing countries and frequently associated with immunocompromised patients in developed countries. Consequently, such infections are responsible for a significant amount of human mortality, morbidity and economic hardship. A growing consensus has identified the urgent need for the development of new antiparasitic compounds, mostly due to the large number of drug-resistant parasites and the fact that currently available drugs are expensive, highly toxic, require long treatment regimens and frequently exhibit significantly reduced activity towards certain parasite strains and evolutive stages. In this context, the activity of aromatic diamidines has been explored against a widespread range of micro-organisms, and the authors' present aim is to review the current status of chemotherapy with these compounds against human parasitic infections.