Plasmodium falciparum News and Research

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Malaria control strategies must adapt to rapidly changing patterns of infection

Malaria control strategies must keep up with the rapidly changing patterns of malaria infection in low transmission settings, according to the authors of a new Review, published in The Lancet. Whereas women and young children suffer from the greatest burden of malaria in high transmission areas, an increasing proportion of malaria cases in low transmission settings are occurring in adult men, sometimes concentrated in small geographic areas and sharing certain occupations or behaviours.

15 Apr 2013

Newly discovered molecule could form the basis of anti-malaria drugs

An international study, involving researchers from Griffith University's Eskitis Institute, has discovered a molecule which could form the basis of powerful new anti-malaria drugs.

25 Mar 2013

New class of anti-malarial compounds discovered

A group of researchers from 16 institutions around the world has identified a new class of anti-malarial compounds that target multiple stages of the malaria parasite's life cycle.

21 Mar 2013

Fewer malaria cases, more artesunate resistance on Thai border

Results from an observational study show that the number of reported malaria cases in children and pregnant women on the Thai–Myanmar border has decreased significantly over the past decade.

6 Mar 2013

Immature malaria parasites more resistant to treatment with artemisinin

New research has revealed that immature malaria parasites are more resistant to treatment with key antimalarial drugs than older parasites, a finding that could lead to more effective treatments for a disease that kills one person every minute and is developing resistance to drugs at an alarming rate.

20 Feb 2013

Study shows how placental circulation can influence malarial parasite behavior and infection

Malaria in pregnancy causes a range of adverse effects, including abortions, stillbirths, premature delivery and low infant birth weight. Many of these effects are thought to derive from a placental inflammatory response resulting from interaction of infected red blood cells with the placental tissue.

3 Feb 2013

Researchers identify signaling pathway used by malarial parasites to destroy host cells

One of the most insidious ways that parasitic diseases such as malaria and toxoplasmosis wreak their havoc is by hijacking their host's natural cellular processes, turning self against self.

18 Jan 2013

Inovio, MVI collaborate to advance malaria vaccine development and new delivery technologies

The PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) and Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced a follow-on collaboration to advance malaria vaccine development and new vaccination delivery technologies.

7 Jan 2013

Common cholesterol-lowering drug may help protect against cerebral malaria

Researchers have discovered that adding lovastatin, a widely used cholesterol-lowering drug, to traditional antimalarial treatment decreases neuroinflammation and protects against cognitive impairment in a mouse model of cerebral malaria.

29 Dec 2012

Protein in human blood platelets points to a new weapon against malaria

One of the world's most devastating diseases is malaria, responsible for at least a million deaths annually, despite global efforts to combat it. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, working with collaborators from Drexel University, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and Johns Hopkins University, have identified a protein in human blood platelets that points to a powerful new weapon against the disease. Their work was published in this months' issue of Cell Host and Microbe.

28 Dec 2012

Researchers develop unique approach to calpain inhibition

Calpain, a calcium-regulated enzyme, is essential to a host of cellular processes, but can cause severe problems in its overactivated state. It has been implicated as a factor in muscular dystrophy, AIDS, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, and cancer. As such, finding and exploiting calpain inhibitors is an important area of research.

28 Dec 2012

New low-cost combined therapy shows promise against malaria

Malaria brings misery and death to millions in the developing world each year, and fighting it keeps medical researchers up at night because the mosquito-borne parasite Plasmodium falciparum, which causes the deadliest form of the disease, has developed resistance to every drug thrown at it. Resistance has cut short the useful life of nearly every therapy tried so far, experts say.

21 Dec 2012

Ancient algae may hold key to treating malaria and related parasites

Researchers have discovered that parasites of the Apicomplexa taxon, such as Plasmodium falciparum and Toxoplasma gondii, reproduce within host cells using a structure that evolved from a flagellum.

12 Dec 2012

Study finds important links between Pf malaria and endemic Burkitt Lymphoma

New research, presented this morning at the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), has identified important associations between Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) malaria and endemic Burkitt Lymphoma (eBL) that may help researchers identify young children who are more susceptible to eBL.

12 Dec 2012

Hebrew University researchers pave way for development of new approaches to cure malaria

More than a million people die each year of malaria caused by different strains of the Plasmodium parasite transmitted by the Anopheles mosquito. The medical world has yet to find an effective vaccine against the deadly parasite, which mainly affects pregnant women and children under the age of five. By figuring out how the most dangerous strain evades the watchful eye of the immune system, researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have now paved the way for the development of new approaches to cure this acute infection.

4 Dec 2012

Interim results from RTS,S vaccine on-going phase III trial on malaria

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 250 million clinical malaria cases are attributed to Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) annually, with over 1.1 million deaths in sub-Saharan Africa alone.

17 Nov 2012

Combination of mosquito nets and deltamethrin does not lead to decline in malaria

Some develop resistance. Others alter their behaviour. Mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles, the vectors of malaria, always find a way to foil human attempts to protect themselves from this disease. Researchers from the IRD and their partners have revealed their great capacity for adaptation, which weakens the strategies to combatting their presence, recommended by the WHO.

6 Nov 2012

Researchers identify new means to eradicate malaria infections

Researchers have identified a new means to eradicate malaria infections by rapidly killing the blood-borne Plasmodium parasites that cause the disease.

26 Oct 2012

First demonstration of newly developed dual humanized FRGTM KO system against malaria

A novel human liver-chimeric mouse model developed at Oregon Health & Science University and Yecuris Corporation has made possible a research breakthrough at Seattle Biomedical Research Institute that will greatly accelerate studies of the most lethal forms of human malaria.

11 Sep 2012

Scientists identify specific role of RESA protein in modulating blood circulation

When the parasite responsible for malaria infects human red blood cells, it launches a 48-hour remodeling of the host cells. During the first 24 hours of this cycle, a protein called RESA undertakes the first step of renovation: enhancing the stiffness of the cell membranes.

31 Aug 2012