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Grade R -11 Metropolitan College 170 Pritchard Street Tel – 011 402 9502
Est 2009 Issue 03 - 2021
Tel : 011 616 1523 Inner-City Gazette
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21 - 28 January 2021
Website : www.inner-city-gazette.co.za 072 824 3014
Inner City Gazette
Breakthrough in fight against malaria The Southern African Development Community (SADC) aims to eliminate malaria in the region by 2030, but for this to happen medical interventions need to extend further than regular artemisinin treatments. Artemisinin, originally derived from the sweet wormwood herb, is used extensively in the treatment of malaria due to its ability to kill the parasite throughout all stages of its lifecycle.
Professor Lyn-Marie Birkholtz
The World Health Organisation noted that overuse of artemisinin in chemical form leads to a rise in resistance in parasites; which makes the research, development, and distribution of new malaria treatments even more important.
Johannesburg - Researchers led by University of Pretoria Professor Lyn-Marie Birkholtz have discovered that two compounds found in TB and cancer treatments can eliminate malaria by halting the parasite’s life cycle. New malaria medications are vital in combatting drug resistant parasites which have become a growing concern in Africa. Chemical compounds, currently undergoing clinical trials in the treatment of TB and anti-cancer applications, have the potential to halt the cyclic transmission of malaria. This new discovery, which addresses the growing concern of antimalarial drug resistance, was led by the University of Pretoria (UP) in collaboration with international biochemists. It is estimated that 440 000 people die from malaria every year, with 90% occurring in Africa. While the fight against malaria
through preventative medications and education campaigns has dramatically driven down the death rate over the past two decades, the issue of drug resistant parasites threatens the continent’s termination plans. Birkholtz, a professor in Biochemistry at UP and South African Research Chair in Sustainable Malaria Control says the malariacausing parasite, which is transmitted between mosquitoes and humans, is considered a shape shifter. “It’s the parasite’s ability to adapt to various forms within its human host which makes breaking the transmission cycle, and solving the question of drug resistance, a difficult task. While the parasite causes disease in humans, it also uses the body as a transmission point for re-entering mosquitoes which draw blood from the human host. This human-tomosquito transmission continues
the parasite’s life cycle, and although protective drugs remain the most commonly used defence against malaria, medical trials are becoming more focused on shutting down the parasite’s ability to move between hosts. To eliminate malaria, it is essential to have the tools to kill all the different forms of the parasite. We can then cure patients of the disease, and also block the malaria transmission cycle. This is the only way to achieve malaria elimination,” Birkholtz says. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) aims to eliminate malaria in the region by 2030, but for this to happen medical interventions need to extend further than regular artemisinin treatments. Artemisinin, which was originally derived from the sweet wormwood herb, is used extensively in the treatment of malaria due to its ability to kill the parasite through-
out all the stages of its lifecycle. The World Health Organisation (WHO) however noted that overuse of artemisinin in chemical form leads to a rise in resistance in parasites. This makes the research, development, and distribution of new malaria treatments even more important. Using an open-source chemical compound set, called the Pandemic Response Box, Birkholtz and her team were able to isolate compounds from various drugs already in existence and study their effect on all stages of the parasite’s life cycle. Two compounds have shown promise in crippling the parasite’s life cycle. “This is the first time that these compounds were shown to have activity against malaria parasites and since they are not toxic to humans, they show the potential to be developed as antimalarials for both treatment and elimination of the disease,” says Birkholtz.