search
for
 About Bioline  All Journals  Testimonials  Membership  News


Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz
ISSN: 1678-8060
EISSN: 1678-8060
Vol. 107, No. 7, 2012, pp. 831-845
Bioline Code: oc12182
Full paper language: English
Document type: Review Article
Document available free of charge

Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Vol. 107, No. 7, 2012, pp. 831-845

 en New approaches in antimalarial drug discovery and development - A Review
Aguiar, Anna Caroline C; da Rocha, Eliana MM; de Souza, Nicolli B; França, Tanos CC & Krettli, Antoniana

Abstract

Malaria remains a major world health problem following the emergence and spread of Plasmodium falciparum check for this species in other resources that is resistant to the majority of antimalarial drugs. This problem has since been aggravated by a decreased sensitivity of Plasmodium vivax to chloroquine. This review discusses strategies for evaluating the antimalarial activity of new compounds in vitro and in animal models ranging from conventional tests to the latest high-throughput screening technologies. Antimalarial discovery approaches include the following: the discovery of antimalarials from natural sources, chemical modifications of existing antimalarials, the development of hybrid compounds, testing of commercially available drugs that have been approved for human use for other diseases and molecular modelling using virtual screening technology and docking. Using these approaches, thousands of new drugs with known molecular specificity and active against P. falciparum have been selected. The inhibition of haemozoin formation in vitro, an indirect test that does not require P. falciparum cultures, has been described and this test is believed to improve antimalarial drug discovery. Clinical trials conducted with new funds from international agencies and the participation of several industries committed to the eradication of malaria should accelerate the discovery of drugs that are as effective as artemisinin derivatives, thus providing new hope for the control of malaria.

Keywords
human malaria - Plasmodium falciparum - antimalarials - drug screening - chloroquine - artemisinin - drug resistance

 
© Copyright 2012 - Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz
Alternative site location: http://memorias.ioc.fiocruz.br

Home Faq Resources Email Bioline
© Bioline International, 1989 - 2024, Site last up-dated on 01-Sep-2022.
Site created and maintained by the Reference Center on Environmental Information, CRIA, Brazil
System hosted by the Google Cloud Platform, GCP, Brazil