Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0024530 (malaria)
 44,886 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The director of the hospital in Kapenguria and the Public Health Officer in the district of West-Pokot and a deputy medical director who had worked there before visited Chepkono, a village of some 20 huts spread around with serious signs of erosion. Their mission was to induce friends of Kenya in the Netherlands to donate money for the improvement of the health service, for the construction of clinics, and for educational programs. A small clinic consisting of 1 room decorated with pamphlets against AIDS, malaria, and other diseases was managed by the chief primary health care (PHC) assistant named Joseph. The village chief talked about the progression of school construction and the sanitary project. Joseph spoke about the strange disease that had all the signs of an epidemic affecting all ages with headache, fever, abdominal cramps, and muscle pain. A village elder added that the mouths of the deceased were black. At a hut there were about 10 people, among them a couple of children, probably also affected by the strange disease, sitting quietly watching the doctors. Each of them had lost 1 or more family members. The children were examined by the doctors, and it turned out that they suffered from a common ailment that good nutrition could relieve. Joseph got the assignment to procure milk powder and instant food for the use of the mothers. The doctors' conclusion was that in Chepkono the major ailment was meningitis or neck cramp. The examination would continue in the hospital in Kapenguria. The men were also informed that there was no vaccination against the strange disease. Joseph proved to be a capable PHC assistant knowing medicines and patients. Sanitary measures including toilet hygiene and boiling milk and water were recommended to avoid illness, and the guests departed.
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PMID:[Chepkono, in the heart of a paradise]. 178 9

With the current increase of international travel to tropical endemic areas, the incidence of malaria being imported into nonendemic countries has increased significantly. Disagreement concerning malaria chemoprophylaxis and inadequate knowledge of malarious areas, morbidity, and pretravel advise has led to confusion among both health professionals as well as travelers. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate malaria imported into Germany by identifying the high-risk endemic areas, clinical presentations, and chemoprophylactic and therapeutic regimens related to reported cases. Between 1990 and 1993, the 160 nonimmune travelers, all German nationals or residents for more than 10 years, presenting to our travel clinic with microscopically confirmed malaria were investigated. For each, the travel history, chemoprophylaxis used during travel, symptoms, pathological diagnosis, and treatment efficacy were analyzed. Africa (73%), Asia (21%), and Central South America (6%) were the endemic countries visited by our patients, of whom only 3% used the chemoprophylaxis recommended for their destination. Plasmodium falciparum was the most common pathogen, found in more than half of our patients, and P. vivax (29%), P. ovale (6%), P. malariae (6%), a mixed infection with P. falciparum and P. vivax (3%) were also detected. All patients presented with fever and headaches, a majority with profuse night sweats, insomnia, arthralgias, and myalgias, and diarrhea and abdominal cramps were experienced in 13% and 8%, respectively. In falciparum malaria, a recrudescence was observed in all patients who received chloroquine only, whereas quinine, halofantrine, and mefloquine were highly effective. In vivax malaria, a relapse rate of 14% was noted in patients treated with the currently recommended regimen of chloroquine and primaquine. Visitors to endemic countries, especially Africa, are of significant risk. Given the low compliance rate of chemoprophylaxis, a high precentage of malaria in our patients could have been avoided by an appropriate prophylaxis regimen and optimal pretravel counseling.
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PMID:Malaria in Nonimmune Travelers: A Synopsis of History, Symptoms, and Treatment in 160 Patients. 981 39

During the course of screening Ethiopian medicinal plants for their antimalarial properties, it was found that the dichloromethane extract of the roots of Kniphofia foliosa Hochst. (Asphodelaceae), which have long been used in the traditional medicine of Ethiopia for the treatment of abdominal cramps and wound healing, displayed strong in vitro antiplasmodial activity against the chloroquine-sensitive 3D7 strain of Plasmodium falciparum with an ED50 value of 3.8 microg/mL and weak cytotoxic activity against KB cells with an ED50 value of 35.2 microg/mL. Five compounds were isolated from the roots and evaluated for their in vitro antimalarial activity. Among the compounds tested, 10-(chrysophanol-7'-yl)-10-(xi)-hydroxychrysopanol-9-anthrone and chryslandicin, showed a high inhibition of the growth of the malaria parasite, P. falciparum with ED50 values of 0.260 and 0.537 microg/mL, respectively, while the naphthalene derivative, 2-acetyl-1-hydroxy-8-methoxy-3-methylnaphthalene, exhibited a less significant antimalarial activity with an ED50 value of 15.4 microg/mL. To compare the effect on the parasite with toxicity to mammalian cells, the cytotoxic activities of the isolated compounds against the KB cell line were evaluated and 10-(chrysophanol-7'-yl)-10-(xi)-hydroxychrysopanol-9-anthrone and chryslandicin displayed very low toxicity with ED50 values of 104 and 90 microg/mL, respectively. This is the first report of the inhibition of the growth of P. falciparum by anthraquinone-anthrone dimers and establishes them as a new class of potential antimalarial compounds with very little host cell toxicity.
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PMID:Antimalarial compounds from Kniphofia foliosa roots. 1611 82