Oral Treatment of New World Cutaneous Leishmaniasis with Anti-Malarial Drugs in ECUADOR: A Preliminary Clinical Trial

The current study was designed to evaluate anti-leishmanial activity of mefloquine hydrochloride (Mephaquin®) and artesunate (Plasmotrium®) which are currently being used as malarial drugs. A total of 17 patients (volunteers) with cutaneous leishmaniasis were treated with these drugs in this study. Of these subjects, 16 were treated by the oral administration of a total dosage of 1, 500mg (I Lactab® each for 6 days) mefloquine, 4.2mg/kg/day for 6 days, and if necessary the dosage was repeated with 3 weeks intervals. The majority of cutaneous lesions healed within 2 to 3 weeks after the commencement of mefloquine treatment, showing an average of 3.6 weeks of healing times with 100% cure rate. One slowly healing within 8 weeks after the commencement was observed; this case grew worse because of infection with Tunga penetrans at the late healing phase of leishrnaniasis. The remaining one patient with an ulcer lesion was treated by the oral administration of a total dosage of 1, 200mg (2 Lactab® each for 3 days) artesunate, e., 6.7mg/kg/day for 3 days, and the same dosage was repeated 2 weeks later. The lesion healed within 6 weeks after the commencement of artesunate treatment. In the present study, all the patients received mefloquine or artesunate were treated without admission, performing their normal daily activities. No specified adverse reaction was noticed.