Abstract
Suramin is one of the first synthetic chemotherapeutic agents to be discovered that was clinically effective against a human parasite. The road to its discovery began in 1899 when Paul Ehrlich was appointed director of the Institute for Experimental Therapy in Frankfurt, a time in which the German chemical industry was synthesizing many compounds, including a large number of synthetic dyes. One such dye, trypan red, was shown to cure trypanosomiasis in mice in 1904, the first time a parasitic infection was cured with a chemotherapeutic agent. Trypanosomes that excluded the dye were resistant [1].
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have