Anti-malarial drugs: how effective are they against <it>Plasmodium falciparum </it>gametocytes?

• Main Authors: Peatey Christopher L, Leroy Didier, Gardiner Donald L, Trenholme Katharine R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2012-02-01
• Series: Malaria Journal
• Subjects: <it>Plasmodium falciparum</it>; Gametocyte; Anti-malarial drugs
• Online Access: http://www.malariajournal.com/content/11/1/34

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>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 <it>Plasmodium falciparum </it>gametocytes is technically challenging both <it>in vivo </it>and <it>in vitro</it>.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Here the use of a simple robust assay to screen a panel of currently used and experimental anti-malarial drugs against mature <it>P. falciparum </it>gametocytes is described.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Eight of 44 compounds tested reduced gametocyte viability by at least 50% and three showed IC₅₀values in nM range.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>There is a need to identify new compounds with activity against late stage gametocytes and the information provided by this <it>in vitro </it>assay is a valuable first step, which can guide future clinical studies.</p>