A new group of drugs may be able to not only treat malaria, but also make old drugs effective again. The old drugs are called quinolines and they have been used to treat malaria in the past, but most parasites have now grown resistant to them. Malaria parasites have developed resistance to nearly all of the drugs that have been used against them before. Even in the newest drugs, there are signs of resistance. Because of this high resistance that malaria parasites have, there are fears that the world will soon run out of drugs that can treat malaria. To stop this, many scientists now recommend using multiple drugs at a time so that the parasites have a harder time stopping them. There may now be another way to stop resistance.
Quinolines work inside of a cell organelle called the digestive vacuole. When a parasite has developed resistance to this drug, it means that the quinoline can no longer enter the vacuole. Scientists are now trying to develop resistance reversal agents, which would once again allow the quinolines to enter the digestive vacuoles. The downside of these reversal agents is that they must be given in very high doses. These high doses can cause an increased risk of neurological side effects. They would be stronger if used in a combination with drugs that are already around.
Jane Kelly, a researcher in Oregon, has worked with her team to develop molecules called acridones. These acridones work as reversal agents but they also have another region that kills malaria. One of these drugs, called T3.5, has been shown to restore the action of 2 quinolines in parasites that were formerly resistant and it only takes small doses. The T3.5 can also cure malaria in mice. According to Kelly, when combined with an existent drug that malaria is not yet resistant to, the T3.5 could provide a cheap and safe treatment. This is an excellent contribution to malaria treatment research, but many tests must still be run before the drugs will be ready to be used as treatment on humans.
By: Rachel Hengst
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References:Article - viewed on 13/4/09 - http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2009/409/2
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