Ergosterol isolated from the basidiomycete Pleurotus salmoneostramineus affects Trypanosoma cruzi plasma membrane and mitochondria

Background Major drawbacks of the available treatment against Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis) include its toxicity and therapeutic inefficiency in the chronic phase of the infection, which makes it a concern among neglected diseases. Therefore, the discovery of alternative drugs for treating chronic Chagas disease requires immediate action. In this work, we evaluated the mushroom Pleurotus salmoneostramineus in the search for potential antiparasitic compounds.