Curative and preventive anticryptosporidium activities of sinefungin in an immunosuppressed adult rat model.

An immunosuppressed rat model was used to investigate the anti-Cryptosporidium parvum activity of sinefungin. In infected animals, oral sinefungin therapy resulted in a dose-related suppression of oocyst shedding, which correlated with oocyst disappearance from ileal sections. When administered prior to or on the day of oocyst challenge, sinefungin successfully prevented infection. These data suggest that sinefungin could be considered as a candidate molecule in the treatment of human cryptosporidiosis, considered to be the most significant enteric opportunistic infection in AIDS.