Nano1Health develops a technological platform for the genomic analysis of Leishmania infantum in the context of a Neotec project
Nano1Health has received a NEOTEC grant funded by CDTI (SNEO20211355) to develop a simple and agile genomic analysis technology platform to detect pathogenicity and drug resistance biomarkers in Leishmania infantum.
1 min read
In Spain, about 400,000 dogs are infected every year, and more than a thousand human cases are reported. The WHO recognizes leishmaniasis as a severe and emerging health problem and insists on searching for solutions that lead to the control of this zoonosis.
There is currently no effective treatment for the disease in dogs, and it creates resistance, which is highly relevant since the same drug is also used to treat leishmaniasis in humans. There is a vaccine for canine leishmaniasis, but its efficacy is limited; current diagnosis only detects the presence of the parasite.
With 2.5 million dogs diagnosed annually in Spain, France, Portugal, and Italy, the emergence of more pathogenic strains of Leishmania infantum with resistance to pharmacological treatments represents a threat in the One Health framework. Despite this, there are no suitable biomarkers with prognostic value for pathogenicity or response to pharmacological treatment.
The objective of the project is the development of an agile and straightforward platform that allows sequencing Leishmania genome and must help to:
-
The search and identification of biomarkers of pathogenicity and resistance to pharmacological treatment in Leishmania infantum for veterinary clinicians and companies in the biomedical and pharmaceutical sectors.
-
Carrying out molecular epidemiology studies to compare strains of animals and human origin.
