 |
|
Old Stain in a New Combination
May 21, 2009Methylene blue can curb the spread of malaria parasites when administered together with new malaria medication / Heidelberg researchers publish in PLoS One
New combinations of agents based on the oldest synthetic malaria drug, the methylene blue stain, can curb the spread of malaria parasites and make a significant contribution to the long-term eradication called for by the international "Roll Back Malaria Initiative." In a study on 160 children with malaria in Burkina Faso, specialists in tropical medicine from the Heidelberg University Hospital have shown that in combination with newer malaria drugs, methylene blue prevents the malaria pathogen in infected persons from being re-ingested by mosquitoes and then transmitted to others and is thus twice as effective as the standard therapy. The results of the study were published in May 2009 in the online journal PLoS One.
Malaria is still one of the deadliest tropical diseases. Every year, 300 million people are infected with malaria and more than one million of them die or suffer severe brain damage. Children under five years are particularly susceptible.
Malaria pathogens need humans and mosquitoes
When the Anopheles mosquito bites, the malaria parasites (plasmodia) in the saliva of the mosquito enter the human body, reproduce in liver cells and then attack the red blood cells. This causes severe symptoms such as high fever or anemia; children in particular can even fall into a coma. During reproduction in the human body, some parasites develop into special reproductive cells, gametocytes. If they are ingested by an Anopheles mosquito, they continue to reproduce in the mosquito. The cycle is complete.
The gametocytes are the key for the spread of malaria by the Anopheles mosquito. Common malaria drugs known as artemisinins block reproduction of the parasites in the human body and reduce the number of gametocytes in blood by half. This makes the transmission of the parasite to the mosquito more difficult but does not completely prevent it. "We urgently need alternative therapies that are effective against the gametocytes and thus improve the control of malaria," states Professor Dr. Olaf Müller, Project Head in the Department of Tropical Medicine and Public Health of the Hygiene Institute at the University of Heidelberg.
Methylene blue prevents transmission to mosquitoes
The appropriate component for such an alternative is a proven agent - the methylene blue stain which has been given to malaria patients since the end of the 19th century has proven to be safe, well tolerated, and effective in combination with various malaria medications.
In the current study in Burkina Faso with 160 malaria patients between the ages of six and ten the Heidelberg scientists tested the effect of combination therapies with artemisinins and methylene blue on gametocytes in the blood. One group of the children received the standard treatment, consisting of a combination of artesunate and amodiaquine. Two other groups received methylene blue combined with one of the two drugs respectively. The physicians checked the number of gametocytes in blood samples three, seven, and fourteen days after the start of therapy.
Combination therapy is twice as effective as standard therapy
It was shown that both combination therapies are twice as effective against gametocytes as the standard therapy - these parasites had almost completely disappeared in the first few days. "Methylene blue not only inhibits the formation of the reproductive forms, but also destroys already existing cells," explains Professor Müller. "In this way, the profiles of methylene blue and artemisinins, which quickly and effectively eliminate the parasites in the red blood cells, complement each other." Since the study group from Heidelberg has used methylene blue in Western Africa for years, it has already been adequately clinically tested - severe or frequent side effects did not occur. Especially important is that the combination makes it more difficult for resistance to artemisinins to develop.
The study is a project in the special research area SFB 544 "Control of Tropical Infectious Diseases" of the German Research Association, to which scientists and physicians from the university hospital and other Heidelberg research centers belong.
Heidelberg University Hospital
Malaria pathogens need humans and mosquitoes
When the Anopheles mosquito bites, the malaria parasites (plasmodia) in the saliva of the mosquito enter the human body, reproduce in liver cells and then attack the red blood cells. This causes severe symptoms such as high fever or anemia; children in particular can even fall into a coma. During reproduction in the human body, some parasites develop into special reproductive cells, gametocytes. If they are ingested by an Anopheles mosquito, they continue to reproduce in the mosquito. The cycle is complete.
The gametocytes are the key for the spread of malaria by the Anopheles mosquito. Common malaria drugs known as artemisinins block reproduction of the parasites in the human body and reduce the number of gametocytes in blood by half. This makes the transmission of the parasite to the mosquito more difficult but does not completely prevent it. "We urgently need alternative therapies that are effective against the gametocytes and thus improve the control of malaria," states Professor Dr. Olaf Müller, Project Head in the Department of Tropical Medicine and Public Health of the Hygiene Institute at the University of Heidelberg.
Methylene blue prevents transmission to mosquitoes
The appropriate component for such an alternative is a proven agent - the methylene blue stain which has been given to malaria patients since the end of the 19th century has proven to be safe, well tolerated, and effective in combination with various malaria medications.
In the current study in Burkina Faso with 160 malaria patients between the ages of six and ten the Heidelberg scientists tested the effect of combination therapies with artemisinins and methylene blue on gametocytes in the blood. One group of the children received the standard treatment, consisting of a combination of artesunate and amodiaquine. Two other groups received methylene blue combined with one of the two drugs respectively. The physicians checked the number of gametocytes in blood samples three, seven, and fourteen days after the start of therapy.
Combination therapy is twice as effective as standard therapy
It was shown that both combination therapies are twice as effective against gametocytes as the standard therapy - these parasites had almost completely disappeared in the first few days. "Methylene blue not only inhibits the formation of the reproductive forms, but also destroys already existing cells," explains Professor Müller. "In this way, the profiles of methylene blue and artemisinins, which quickly and effectively eliminate the parasites in the red blood cells, complement each other." Since the study group from Heidelberg has used methylene blue in Western Africa for years, it has already been adequately clinically tested - severe or frequent side effects did not occur. Especially important is that the combination makes it more difficult for resistance to artemisinins to develop.
The study is a project in the special research area SFB 544 "Control of Tropical Infectious Diseases" of the German Research Association, to which scientists and physicians from the university hospital and other Heidelberg research centers belong.
Heidelberg University Hospital
Malaria Current Events and Malaria News RSSMeasuring and modeling blood flow in malaria
When people have malaria, they are infected with Plasmodium parasites, which enter the body from the saliva of a mosquito, infect cells in the liver, and then spread to red blood cells.
On the Trail of a Vaccine for Lyme Disease: Yale Researchers Target Tick Saliva
A protein found in the saliva of ticks helps protect mice from developing Lyme disease, Yale researchers have discovered. The findings, published in the November 19 issue of Cell Host & Microbe, may spur development of a new vaccine against infection from Lyme disease, which is spread through tick bites.
Research calls for better assessment of tests for tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and malaria
A rapid and accurate diagnosis is the first step towards treatment in the fight against infectious disease.
Small nanoparticles bring big improvement to medical imaging
If you're watching the complex processes in a living cell, it is easy to miss something important-especially if you are watching changes that take a long time to unfold and require high-spatial-resolution imaging.
Prioritizing low-cost, simple health measures would save 2.5 million child lives a year
Almost a third of the children under age five who die each year could be saved if governments rebalance health spending to ensure low-cost, simple interventions such as safe water and hygiene, bed nets and basic maternal and newborn care, leading aid agency World Vision said today. Currently, 8.8 million children a year die before age five, most of preventable causes.
Drug industry, nonprofits join forces to fight world's neglected diseases
Drug companies and nonprofit organizations are joining forces to develop new drugs and vaccines to target so-called "neglected" diseases that claim millions of lives in the developing world each year.
U.S. and European Experts Applaud Creation of New Transatlantic Task Force on Global Antibiotic Resistance Threat
Experts on both sides of the Atlantic applaud President Barack Obama and Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, representing the European Union (EU) Presidency, for establishing a transatlantic task force to address antibiotic resistance, an urgent and growing problem that threatens patient safety and public health worldwide.
1930s drug slows tumor growth
Drugs sometimes have beneficial side effects. A glaucoma treatment causes luscious eyelashes. A blood pressure drug also aids those with a rare genetic disease.
DNA barcodes: Creative new uses span health, fraud, smuggling, history, more
The scientific ability to quickly and accurately identify species through DNA "barcoding" is being embraced and applied by a growing legion of global authorities - from medical and agricultural researchers to police and customs authorities to palaeontologists and others.
PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative shares strategy for developing 'next-generation' malaria vaccines
Marking its tenth anniversary year, the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) today unveiled a new strategy that sets the stage for an aggressive push targeting the long-term goal of eliminating and eradicating malaria. Malaria is one of the world's deadliest infectious diseases, killing nearly 900,000 people a year, most of them children in sub-Saharan Africa.
More Malaria Current Events and Malaria News Articles
 |
The Making of a Tropical Disease: A Short History of Malaria (Johns Hopkins Biographies of Disease) by Randall M. Packard (Author) Malaria sickens hundreds of millions of people -- and kills one to three million -- each year. Despite massive efforts to eradicate the disease, it remains a major public health problem in poorer tropical regions. But malaria has not always been concentrated in tropical areas. How did other regions control malaria and why does the disease still flourish in some parts of the globe? From Russia to Bengal to Palm Beach, Randall Packard's far-ranging narrative traces the natural and social forces that help malaria spread and make it deadly. He finds that war, land development, crumbling health systems, and globalization -- coupled with climate change and changes in the distribution and flow of water -- create conditions in which malaria's carrier mosquitoes thrive. The combination of... |
 |
The Malaria Capers : More Tales of Parasites and People, Research and Reality by Robert S. Desowitz (Author) "Reads like a murder mystery. . . . [Desowitz] writes with uncommon lucidity and verse, leaving the reader with a vivid understanding of malaria and other tropical diseases, and the ways in which culture, climate and politics have affected their spread and containment."—New York Times Why, Robert S. Desowitz asks, has biotechnical research on malaria produced so little when it had promised so much? An expert in tropical diseases, Desowtiz searches for answers in this provocative book. . |
 |
Compiled 1981-1984 by Malaria! |
 |
Humanity's Burden: A Global History of Malaria (Studies in Environment and History) by James L.A. Webb Jr. (Author) Humanity's Burden provides a panoramic overview of the history of malaria. It traces the long arc of malaria out of tropical Africa into Eurasia, its transfer to the Americas during the early years of the Columbian exchange, and its retraction from the middle latitudes into the tropics since the late nineteenth century. Adopting a broadly comparative approach to historical patterns and processes, it synthesizes research findings from the natural and social sciences and weaves these understandings into a narrative that reaches from the earliest evidence of malaria infections in tropical Africa up to the present. Written in a style that is easily accessible to non-specialists, it considers the significance of genetic mutations, diet, lifestyle, migration, warfare, palliative and curative... |
![GIANTmicrobes: Malaria (Plasmodium Falciparum) [Toy] [Toy]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21%2BeHMzjARL._SL160_.jpg) |
GIANTmicrobes: Malaria (Plasmodium Falciparum) [Toy] [Toy] by Giant Microbes The tropics have coconuts, soft beaches, clear water, shiny fish, colorful birds, steel drums, umbrella drinks ... and Malaria. Now you can collect a dozen of the most adorable viruses, bacteria, mites, worms and calamities nature ever unleashed. Disturbingly cuddly, Giant Microbes are great learning tools for parents and educators, amusing gifts for anyone with a sense of humor, or just friendly plush companions for those trying to get past their Bacillophobia. Each 5-to-7 inch doll is accompanied by an image of the not-so-cute real microbe it represents, as well as quick facts about the microbe. Antibiotics not required. |
 |
First Comes Love, Then Comes Malaria: How a Peace Corps Poster Boy Won My Heart and a Third World Adventure Changed My Life by Eve Brown-Waite (Author) In this laugh-out-loud funny memoir, a pampered city girl falls head over little black heels in love with a Peace Corps poster boy and follows him —literally–to the ends of the earth. Eve Brown always thought she would join the Peace Corps someday, although she secretly worried about life without sushi, frothy coffee drinks and air conditioning. But with college diploma in hand, it was time to put up or shut up. So with some ambivalence she arrives at the Peace Corps office–sporting her best safari chic attire –to casually look into the steps one might take if one were to become a global humanitarian, a la Angelina Jolie. But when Eve meets John, her dashing young Peace Corps recruiter, all her ambivalence flies out the window. She absolutely must join the Peace Corps -... |
 |
Malaria: Fever Wars Starring: Artist Not Provided |
 |
Sea to Summit Mozi Mosquito Net Shelter,Single by Sea to Summit An indispensable item for traveling or backpacking in bug infested regions. Our Mosquito Net shelters are small, light and compact. They come with a handy stuff sack for easing packing and offer tuck-in sides offer extra protection. |
 |
Molecular Approaches to Malaria by Irwin W. Sherman (Editor) "Molecular Approaches to Malaria" provides an overview of the rapid and significant developments that have occurred in malaria research, including the 2002 genome sequencing of Plasmodium falciparum and its mosquito vector, Anopheles gambiae. This work: provides a concise source of up-to-date research findings; appeals to a diverse audience, including malaria researchers, teachers, investigators, and public health professionals; offers contributions by recognized malaria researchers with practical experience; and, presents comprehensive coverage of topics including a clearly written introduction to Plasmodium molecular biology. |
 |
Revisited by Malaria! |
| © 2009 BrightSurf.com |