EN
Visceral leishmaniasis is a protozoan born disease, which when left untreated, leads to morbidity and mortality in humans. It was demonstrated that orally applied non-liposomal hexadecylphosphocholine exhibits remarkable therapeutic efficacy against leishmanial infections in BALB/c mice. With the added benefit that liposomal hexadecylphosphocholine is better tolerated after oral application and can be repeatedly injected intravenously without causing thrombophlebitis, we show that liposomal hexadecylphosphocholine is much more effective against visceral leishmaniasis than therapy with conventional drugs such as Pentostam®. Most important, the i.v. treatment of infected mice with liposomal hexadecylphosphocholine was the only therapy that was curative.