Purine Salvage Enzymes in Leishmania Donovani and Trichomonas Vaginalis

Abstract

The purine salvage pathways of pathogenic protozoa are of special interest because most of these organisms lack the ability to synthesize purines de novo. This absence of an alternative to salvage is the basis for the view that these pathogens might be particularly susceptible to selective chemotherapy with purine analogues and their nucleosides. The preceding paper provides some examples to illustrate the validity of this view. The central point of this paper is the comparison of purine salvage enzymes of two not so distantly related pathogenic protozoa. The basic lesson is that not only do pathogenic protozoa differ from mammals in their purine salvage enzymes, but dramatic diversity among the protozoa themselves can be found.