DeCure's autonomous Rare AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for human african trypanosomiasis — screening already-approved drugs against its 1-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.
Disease moduleHuman african trypanosomiasis maps to a 1-gene Open Targets module — the target space DeCure's AI scientist screens approved drugs against.
DeCure.ai methodSignature reversal (LINCS) plus network proximity (STRING) rank already-approved drugs likely to perturb this module — the same engine that produces DeCure.ai's repurposing hypotheses.
Repurposing thesisScreening approved medicines against this disease module, then publishing the evidence for the strongest candidate. Known pharmacology and human exposure data make the first question sharper — they do not establish safety or efficacy in a new indication.
Research record
01
ResearchComing soon
Candidate research + dossier — target rationale, drug-repurposing thesis and evidence pack.proof: Published dossier + on-chain hash
02
ValidationComing soon
In-vitro biological validation at a contract research org (CRO).proof: CRO contract + in-vitro report
03
Peer review & paperComing soon
Peer-reviewed paper published open-access (preprint + journal).proof: DOI + open-access link + on-chain hash
Current lead
No approved-drug candidate for human african trypanosomiasis is corroborated in the literature DeepSearch retrieved. Some conditions are managed with non-pharmacological care — a device, surgery or physical therapy — rather than a medicine; that may be the case here, or the literature we found may simply be too sparse yet to support a drug-repurposing angle.
Molecular view
ornithine decarboxylase 1 (ODC1) — ODC1 is one of the genes genetically linked to this disease in Open Targets — shown as context, not as a drug target we're pursuing: no approved-drug candidate for this disease is yet corroborated in the literature we found.
Loading structure…
helix sheet plpdrag to rotate · scroll to zoom
RCSB Protein Data Bank · entry 2OO0 · 1.9 Å · ligand PYRIDOXAL-5'-PHOSPHATE (PLP). Experimental structure, not a prediction.
What the evidence adds up to
The existing approved drugs for human African trypanosomiasis are old, toxic, and expensive, and therapeutic failures are common. A 1999 review notes that problems stem from differences in disease epidemiology, difficulties in diagnosis and staging, drug availability and pharmacology, and standardisation of treatment regimens. By 2001, the arsenical derivative melarsoprol, a cousin of atoxyl used at the start of the 20th century, was still the treatment for most patients diagnosed in the late stage. The earlier drug tryparsamide had been abandoned after accumulating treatment failures, and even melarsoprol, though effective, was poorly tolerated. Mass prophylaxis with pentamidine combined with arsenical therapy once raised hopes of eradication, but by the early 21st century those hopes were gone: HAT had re-emerged in several countries and melarsoprol was losing efficacy.
A 2021 follow-up study of two rare imported HAT patients reports that after standardised treatment both recovered satisfactorily with no signs of relapse at 12 months. This is a very small sample and provides no generalisable evidence. A 2024 state-of-the-art clinical update states that HAT remains a major health threat in over 36 sub-Saharan African countries, exposing over 60 million people to risk. The review covers epidemiology, clinical manifestations, pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment, but the abstract gives no new efficacy data for any drug.
What is still missing is investment in drug development for a disease with no economic interest, as noted in the 2001 paper. No new drug has been approved and validated in large, randomised trials that account for the two distinct clinical forms of HAT. Patient stratification by disease stage and parasite subspecies, and standardised long-term follow-up to detect relapses, remain absent from the evidence base.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz · 1999 · 28 citations · open access
Therapy of Human African Trypanosomiasis: Current Situation
AbstractThis paper is a review of the current situation of the treatment of human African trypanosomiasis. The existing approved drugs are old, toxic and/or expensive. Therapeutic failures are common. Several factors may contribute to the problems of chemotherapy, including differences in the epidemiology of the disease, difficulties in the diagnosis and staging of the infection, availability, distribution and pharmacologic properties of drugs, standardization of treatment regimens, response to therapy, follow-up period, and relapses and clinical trials. The new therapeutic approaches include the development and approval of new drugs, the use of new therapeutic regimens, the study of drug combinations, and the development of new formulations.
Tropical Medicine & International Health · 2001 · 23 citations · open access
Trypanosomiase humaine africaine: historique de la therapeutique et de ses echecs
AbstractAu début du 20ème siècle, les premiers protocoles de traitement de la trypanosomiase humaine africaine (THA) utilisaient un dérivé arsenical: l’atoxyl. De nos jours, la majorité des patients diagnostiqués en phase tardive sont toujours traités par un dérivé de l’arsenic: le mélarsoprol, un cousin de l’atoxyl. Entre les deux, l’apparition de résistances médicamenteuses ou la volonté de réduire la toxicité des molécules ont permis pendant longtemps de stimuler la recherche de nouveaux médicaments ou de nouveaux protocoles thérapeutiques et d’adapter les stratégies de lutte. La synthèse de la tryparsamide, au début des années 20, avait permis de rationaliser la lutte contre la THA, jusqu’alors fondé sur des protocoles le plus souvent empiriques. La multiplication des échecs thérapeutiques de la tryparsamide justifia le recours à diverses combinaisons thérapeutiques et favorisa le développement de nouveaux dérivés arsenicaux, dont le mélarsoprol, mal toléré mais efficace. A la même époque, les campagnes de prophylaxie de masse à la pentamidine, jointes à la thérapeutique arsenicale, pouvaient même faire envisager une éradication de la THA. En ce début de 21ième siècle, les rêves d’éradication sont oubliés depuis longtemps. La THA a ré-émergé dans plusieurs pays, le mélarsoprol perd de son efficacité dans un contexte où la thérapeutique des maladies tropicales en général et de la THA en particulier, sans intérêt économique, a été abandonné. Comment traiterons-nous les patients atteints de maladie du sommeil dans les années à venir?
[Follow - up prognostic study on two imported patients with human African trypanosomiasis].
AbstractOBJECTIVE: To investigate the prognosis of two rare imported patients with human African trypanosomias (HAT) after treatment in a follow-up study, and to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy, so as to provide insights into the treatment of imported HAT patients. METHODS: infection 1, 3, 8 and 12 months post-treatment to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy and prognosis. RESULTS: infection. CONCLUSIONS: Following standardized treatment, two imported cases with human African trypanosomiasis cases recover satisfactorily, without any signs of relapse.
State-of-the-art clinical update on African trypanosomiasis
AbstractThe QJM has over recent times published relevant articles related to diseases more associated with sub-Saharan Africa.1–4 We continue this policy with the publication in the current issue of the Journal of a seminal review on African Trypanosomiasis by Professor Kennedy from the University of Glasgow. Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT), also known as sleeping sickness, continues to be a major health threat in over 36 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, exposing over 60 million people to significant risk. HAT is caused by protozoan parasites of the Trypanosoma genus, which is transmitted by the bite of the tsetse fly of the Glossina genus. There are two clinical forms of the disease, namely West African HAT caused by Trypanosoma brucei gambiense, and the East African variant caused by Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense. While the former variant accounts for about 95% of HAT cases, and the latter for only about 5% of cases, the clinical picture of these variants is different. This state-of-the Art review provides an update on the epidemiology, clinical manifestations, pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of this significant African public health problem. We highly recommend this review to our readers. Preserved ratio impaired spirometry (PRISm) in individuals has gained increased attention within the respiratory community. It is well recognized that this pulmonary abnormality is associated with enhanced earlier predicted mortality. This is not only enhanced mortality secondary to lung problems but also secondary to cardiovascular complications. We therefore welcome the work of Dr Shu and colleagues from the National Taiwan University where they showed in their adult population of 461 183, a prevalence of PRISm of 14.3% with an enhanced all-cause mortality 28% and an increase specifically of 45% in cardiovascular related deaths. This translated in to a mean reduction in life expectancy of 3 years. Individuals PRISm who exercised regularly (i.e. > 150 min/week) was associated with a two-third reduction of excess mortality from all cause and from CVD. Given the absence of established strategies to improve survival in PRISm patients, advocating for and integrating physical activity into disease management would yield substantial benefits.
Disease module: DeepOracle (Open Targets). Structures: RDKit from PubChem SMILES. Literature: retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works (targeted per-candidate search), resolved on OpenAlex.
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