Dose finding of 3'deoxyadenosine and deoxycoformycin for the treatment of Trypanosoma evansi infection: An effective and nontoxic dose.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy and safety of using 3'deoxyadenosine (Cordycepin - adenosine analogue) combined with deoxycoformycin (Pentostatin - an adenosine deaminase inhibitor) in mice infected with Trypanosoma evansi. We show that the combination of Cordycepin (2.0 mg kg(-1)) and Pentostatin (0.2, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 mg kg(1)) is effective in the clearance of T. evansi, although at the higher concentrations of Pentostatin 2 mg kg(-1) some toxicity was observed in the liver and kidney. Since the Cordycepin 2.0 mg kg(-1) and Pentostatin 0.2 mg kg(-1) combination was effective and had low toxicity, we recommend this as a therapeutic option for a T. evansi mouse model.