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Query: UMLS:C0024530 (malaria)
 44,886 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Feeding of wistar albino rats on low protein and energy diet (4% protein) caused suppression of parasitaemia when infected with Plasmodium berghei besides causing a depressed immune response. The refeeding of protein energy deficient rats on normal protein and energy diet (18% protein) for four weeks resulted in the normal course of parasitaemia after P. berghei infection. The present study was carried out to find the cause of suppression of malaria in protein energy deficient rats. The experiments revealed re-elevation of malaria parasitaemia when rats were fed on low protein diets supplemented with p-amino-benzoic acid (PABA). Moreover, the parasite persisted at subpatent levels in tissues in protein energy deficient rats and resulted in the development of antimalarial antibodies. Low protein energy diet could cause deficiency of certain essential nutrients required for the parasite, PABA being one of them, and hence suppresses the parasitaemia to subpatent levels. As a result, sufficient antigenic stimulus is provided to the host so that the host develops an immune response which might in turn help in further suppression of parasitaemia to subpatent levels.
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PMID:Dietary modulation of malaria infection in rats. 182 58

Following invasion of the human erythrocyte by the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, there appear in the parasitized cell new, high-capacity permeation pathways that transport a diverse range of low-molecular-mass solutes. In this study a series of 16 arylaminobenzoates, analogues of the Cl- channel blocker 5-nitro-2-(3-phenylpropylamino)benzoic acid (NPPB), were tested for their effects on the transport of choline, a univalent cation, into malaria-infected cells. A number of the arylaminobenzoates were found to be potent inhibitors of malaria-induced choline transport and to be similarly effective at blocking the induced transport of the uncharged pyrimidine nucleoside thymidine and the univalent anion lactate. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that much of the induced transport of cations, anions and non-electrolytes into parasitized cells is via broad-specificity, anion-selective pathways of a single type. A comparison of the effects of the arylaminobenzoates on malaria-induced transport with their effects on a number of representative anion transport systems in normal mammalian cells suggests that it is possible to identify pharmacological agents that block the malaria-induced pathway while not significantly affecting important transport mechanisms in host tissues. The most potent of the induced-transport inhibitors identified were shown to inhibit [3H]hypoxanthine incorporation in in vitro parasite growth assays. These data support the view that the induced-transport pathway may be a viable pharmacological target.
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PMID:In search of a selective inhibitor of the induced transport of small solutes in Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes: effects of arylaminobenzoates. 748 30

Following infection by the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, human erythrocytes show increased permeability to a variety of low molecular weight solutes. In this study a number of anion transport blockers were identified as potent inhibitors of the transport of a wide range of solutes into human erythrocytes infected in vitro with P. falciparum. 5-Nitro-2-(3-phenyl-propylamino)benzoic acid (NPPB), furosemide, and niflumate blocked the malaria-induced transport of monovalent cations, neutral amino acids, sugars, nucleosides, and monovalent anions. For all of the substrates tested the order of potency of these three inhibitors was the same (NPPB > furosemide > niflumate) and dose-response curves for the effect of these inhibitors on malaria-induced choline transport were similar to those for malaria-induced thymidine transport. The data suggest that much, if not all, of the high capacity (non-saturable) transport of low molecular weight solutes into P. falciparum-infected erythrocytes is via a single type of pathway. The broad specificity of the pathway, its non-saturability in the physiological concentration range, and its failure to distinguish between stereoisomers (L- and D-alanine) are consistent with its being a type of pore or channel. For those substrates for which quantitative influx measurements were made the magnitude of the malaria-induced (inhibitor-sensitive) transport was in the order: Cl- > lactate > thymidine, adenosine > carnitine > choline > K+. The pathway is therefore anion-selective. The pharmacological and substrate-selectivity properties of the pathway show marked similarities to those of chloride channels in other cell types; this raises the possibility that the high capacity transport of small organic solutes may be an important and, as yet, largely unrecognized role for such channels in other tissues.
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PMID:Transport of diverse substrates into malaria-infected erythrocytes via a pathway showing functional characteristics of a chloride channel. 810 73

Red cells infected with the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum have an increased permeability to a range of small, structurally unrelated solutes via a malaria-induced pathway. We report here a similar pathway present in parasitised red cells from chickens infected with the avian malaria parasite, Plasmodium gallinaceum. Parasitised cells showed a marked increase in the rate of influx of sorbitol (76-fold) and, to a lesser degree, taurine (3-fold) when compared with red cells from uninfected chickens. Pharmacological data suggest that both sorbitol and taurine are transported via a single malaria-induced pathway, which is sensitive to inhibition by 5-nitro-2-(3-phenylpropylamino)benzoic acid (IC(50) approximately 7 microM). The malaria-induced pathway differed in its inhibition by a range of anion channel inhibitors when compared to the endogenous, volume-activated osmolyte pathway of chicken red cells. There were also differences in the selectivity of sorbitol and taurine by the two permeation routes. The data presented here are consistent with the presence of two distinct organic solute pathways in infected chicken red cells. The first is an endogenous volume-activated pathway, which is not activated by the parasite and the second is a malaria-induced pathway, similar to those that are induced by other types of malaria in other host species.
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PMID:Two functionally distinct organic osmolyte pathways in Plasmodium gallinaceum-infected chicken red blood cells. 1198 84

Antimalarial drug resistance in endemic malaria zones is first detected in vitro; when it reaches a certain threshold, it becomes perceptible and is expressed in therapeutic failure among subjects only slightly or not at all immune. This work conducted in northern Abidjan (Cote d'Ivoire) studied children with uncomplicated malaria, who were followed for 14 days (during the year 2000) in accordance with the WHO protocol for surveillance of antimalarial drug resistance. Concomitantly, the Plasmodium falciparum isolates were cultured in the presence of variable concentrations of chloroquine, pyrimethamine and quinine during in vitro chemosensitivity tests. The RPMI 1640 used as medium for the pyrimethamine did not contain PABA (para-amino benzoic acid) or folic acid. In all, 114 in vitro tests were completed, 33 to chloroquine, 32 to pyrimethamine, and 49 to quinine. Therapeutic efficacy was tested in 65 patients: 33 to chloroquine and 32 to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP). The results found 36% of the isolates were chloroquine-resistant (CQ-R) and 33% of the patients treated with chloroquine did not respond adequately (therapeutic failure, TF). The 12 CQ-R isolates corresponded to 11 TF subjects and 1 patient with adequate clinical and parasitological response. The concordance between the two tests was good (kappa=0.93). For pyrimethamine, 37.5% of the isolates were resistant (PYR-R), and 37.5% of patients responded adequately to SP. The 12 PYR-R isolates were from 12 TF subjects, so that kappa=1.0, when pyrimethamine resistance is defined as IC50 > 2,000 nM. Because of the elevated rate of chloroquine resistance, the national antimalaria program has recommended since July 2003 that amodiaquine be used as a first-line drug, to replace chloroquine. The relatively elevated number of TF with SP are a source of concern, because it is used in Yopougon (Abidjan). Additional studies to assess the prevalence of resistance to this combination in other areas of Abidjan city (Cote d' Ivoire) would be useful.
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PMID:[Limits of the efficacy of chloroquine and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine in Northern Abidjan (Cote d'Ivoire): Combined in vivo and in vitro studies]. 1574 69

Kinetics of beta-haematin (synthetic malaria pigment) formation from haematin have been studied in the presence of aqueous benzoic acid and derivatives of benzoic acid. Formation of the beta-haematin product is demonstrated by X-ray diffraction and IR spectroscopy. Reactions were followed by determining the fraction of unreacted haematin at various time points during the process via reaction of extracted aliquots with pyridine. The kinetics can be fitted to the Avrami equation, indicating that the process involves nucleation and growth. Reaction kinetics in stirred benzoic acid are similar to those previously observed in acetic acid, except that benzoic acid is far more active in promoting the reaction than acetic acid. The reaction reaches completion within 2 h in the presence of 0.050 M benzoic acid (pH 4.5, 60 degrees C). This compares with 1 h in the presence of 4.5 M acetic acid and 4 h in the presence of 2 M acetic acid. The reaction rate in benzoic acid is not affected if the stirring rate is decreased to zero, but very vigorous stirring appears to disrupt nucleation. The rate constant for beta-haematin formation in benzoic acid has a linear dependence on benzoic acid concentration and follows Arrhenius behaviour with temperature. There is a bell-shaped dependence on pH. This suggests that the haematin species in which one propionate group is protonated and the other is deprotonated is optimal for beta-haematin formation. When the reaction is conducted in para-substituted benzoic acid derivatives, the log of the rate constant increases linearly with the Hammett constant. These findings suggest that the role of the carboxylic acid may be to disrupt hydrogen bonding and pi-stacking in haematin, facilitating conversion to beta-haematin. The large activation energy for conversion of precipitated haematin to beta-haematin suggests that the reaction in vivo most likely involves direct nucleation from solution and probably does not occur in aqueous medium.
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PMID:Kinetics of beta-haematin formation from suspensions of haematin in aqueous benzoic acid. 1706 Sep 88

Vitamin A and retinoic acid have previously been shown to confer some protection against a severe course of malaria by fostering the phagocytosis of parasitized erythrocytes. Phagocytosis of erythrocytes is stimulated by phosphatidylserine exposure at the cell surface. The present study has thus been performed to explore the effect of retinoic acid and the specific retinoic acid receptor (RAR) agonist 4-(E-2-[5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-5,5,8,8-tetramethyl-2-naphthalenyl]-1-propenyl) benzoic acid (TTNPB) on erythrocyte annexin V binding, which reflects phosphatidylserine exposure at the cell surface. A 24 hours exposure to either, retinoic acid (3 microM) or TTNPB (3 microM), indeed significantly increased annexin binding, an effect paralleled by decrease of forward scatter reflecting cell shrinkage. According to Fluo3 fluorescence, exposure to either, retinoic acid (10 microM, 24 hours) or TTNPB (10 microM, 6 hours), significantly increased cytosolic Ca(2+)-activity, a known trigger of phosphatidylserine exposure. Infection of erythrocytes with Plasmodium falciparum increased phosphatidylserine exposure, an effect increased in the presence of TTNPB. In conclusion, retinoid acid and TTNPB trigger phosphatididylserine exposure and cell shrinkage of erythrocytes, typical features of suicidal erythrocyte death or eryptosis. The eryptosis could participate in the accelerated clearance of parasitized erythrocytes from circulating blood following treatment with retinoids.
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PMID:Retinoic acid induced suicidal erythrocyte death. 1820 86

Infection with the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum induces osmolyte and anion channels in the host erythrocyte membrane involving ATP release and autocrine purinergic signaling. P. falciparum-parasitized but not unstimulated uninfected erythrocytes released ATP in a 5-nitro-2-(3-phenylpropylamino)-benzoic acid (NPPB; 7 microM)-sensitive and serum album (SA; 0.5% w/v)-stimulated manner. Since Plasmodium infection of human erythrocytes induces SA-dependent outwardly (OR) and SA-independent inwardly rectifying (IR) anion conductances, we tested whether the infection-induced OR channels directly generate an ATP release pathway. P. falciparum-parasitized erythrocytes were recorded in whole-cell mode with either Cl(-) or ATP as the only anion in the bath or pipette. In parasitized cells with predominant OR activity, replacement of bath NaCl by Na-ATP (NMDG-Cl pipette solution) shifted the current reversal potential (V (rev)) from -2 +/- 1 to +51 +/- 3 mV (n = 15). In cells with predominant IR activity, in contrast, the same maneuver induced a shift of V (rev) to significantly larger (p < or = 0.05, two-tailed t test) values (from -3 +/- 1 to +66 +/- 8 mV; n = 5) and an almost complete inhibition of outward current. The anion channel blocker NPPB reversibly decreased the ATP-generated OR currents from 1.1 +/- 0.1 nS to 0.2 +/- 0.05 nS and further shifted V (rev) to +87 +/- 7 mV (n = 12). The NPPB-sensitive fraction of the OR reversed at +48 +/- 4 mV suggesting a relative permeability of P (ATP)/P (Cl) approximately 0.01. Together, these data raise the possibility that the OR might be the electrophysiological correlate of an erythrocyte ATP release pathway.
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PMID:The Plasmodium falciparum-induced anion channel of human erythrocytes is an ATP-release pathway. 1869 3

Febrifugine and its derivatives including halofuginone which possess very high activity against malaria were prepared synthetically from easily available starting material, 3-hydroxy picoline, and using simple reaction conditions. Synthesis of 2-amino-5, 6-methylenedioxy benzoic acid, (which is an intermediate for the process) is described. The selectivity enhancement in nitration of 3, 4-methylenedioxybenzaldehyde towards 6-nitro isomer was done with the help of surfactant. The antimalarial activity of synthesized compounds was determined by using in vitro assays against chloroquine sensitive (D6), chloroquine resistant (W2) Plasmodium falciparum strains for susceptibility and two mammalian cell lines (neuronal cell line NG108 and macrophage cell line J774) for cytotoxicity. The IC(50)s of halofuginone was observed to be the best among the synthesized derivatives of febrifugine.
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PMID:Synthesis and comparison of antimalarial activity of febrifugine derivatives including halofuginone. 1944 20

Tetrahydrofolates are essential cofactors for DNA synthesis and methionine metabolism. Malaria parasites are capable both of synthesizing tetrahydrofolates and precursors de novo and of salvaging them from the environment. The biosynthetic route has been studied in some detail over decades, whereas the molecular mechanisms that underpin the salvage pathway lag behind. Here we identify two functional folate transporters (named PfFT1 and PfFT2) and delineate unexpected substrate preferences of the folate salvage pathway in Plasmodium falciparum. Both proteins are localized in the plasma membrane and internal membranes of the parasite intra-erythrocytic stages. Transport substrates include folic acid, folinic acid, the folate precursor p-amino benzoic acid (pABA), and the human folate catabolite pABAG(n). Intriguingly, the major circulating plasma folate, 5-methyltetrahydrofolate, was a poor substrate for transport via PfFT2 and was not transported by PfFT1. Transport of all folates studied was inhibited by probenecid and methotrexate. Growth rescue in Escherichia coli and antifolate antagonism experiments in P. falciparum indicate that functional salvage of 5-methyltetrahydrofolate is detectable but trivial. In fact pABA was the only effective salvage substrate at normal physiological levels. Because pABA is neither synthesized nor required by the human host, pABA metabolism may offer opportunities for chemotherapeutic intervention.
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PMID:The molecular basis of folate salvage in Plasmodium falciparum: characterization of two folate transporters. 2199 6


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