Anti-malarial drugs: how effective are they against Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes?
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Author(s)
Peatey, Christopher
Leroy, Didier
Gardiner, Donald
Trenholme, Katharine
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2012
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Background:
Recent renewed emphasis on the eradication of malaria has highlighted the need for more tools with which to achieve this ambitious goal. One high priority area is the need to determine the gametocytocidal activity of both currently used anti-malarial drugs and those in the development pipeline. However, testing the activity of compounds against Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes is technically challenging both in vivo and in vitro.
Methods:
Here the use of a simple robust assay to screen a panel of currently used and experimental anti-malarial drugs against mature P. falciparum gametocytes is described.
Results: ...
View more >Background: Recent renewed emphasis on the eradication of malaria has highlighted the need for more tools with which to achieve this ambitious goal. One high priority area is the need to determine the gametocytocidal activity of both currently used anti-malarial drugs and those in the development pipeline. However, testing the activity of compounds against Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes is technically challenging both in vivo and in vitro. Methods: Here the use of a simple robust assay to screen a panel of currently used and experimental anti-malarial drugs against mature P. falciparum gametocytes is described. Results: Eight of 44 compounds tested reduced gametocyte viability by at least 50% and three showed IC50 values in nM range. Conclusions: There is a need to identify new compounds with activity against late stage gametocytes and the information provided by this in vitro assay is a valuable first step, which can guide future clinical studies.
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View more >Background: Recent renewed emphasis on the eradication of malaria has highlighted the need for more tools with which to achieve this ambitious goal. One high priority area is the need to determine the gametocytocidal activity of both currently used anti-malarial drugs and those in the development pipeline. However, testing the activity of compounds against Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes is technically challenging both in vivo and in vitro. Methods: Here the use of a simple robust assay to screen a panel of currently used and experimental anti-malarial drugs against mature P. falciparum gametocytes is described. Results: Eight of 44 compounds tested reduced gametocyte viability by at least 50% and three showed IC50 values in nM range. Conclusions: There is a need to identify new compounds with activity against late stage gametocytes and the information provided by this in vitro assay is a valuable first step, which can guide future clinical studies.
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Journal Title
Malaria Journal
Volume
11
Issue
34
Copyright Statement
© Peatey et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2012. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Subject
Medical Microbiology not elsewhere classified
Microbiology
Medical Microbiology
Public Health and Health Services