New Drug Synriam Approved to Treat Malaria in India

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A new drug to treat malaria, Synriam, was launched in India by Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited. The drug will provide additional options for malaria treatment as  traditional drugs become increasingly ineffective against the deadly malarial parasite because of acquired resistance to available medications.

Taken as a tablet once a day for three days, Synriam may be more effective, cheaper, and have fewer side effects and does not have to be taken with food, according to the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). From 2000 to 2010, Jonathan Vennerstrom, Ph.D., a professor at the UNMC College of Pharmacy, led an international team that created the drug compound that led to the development of Synriam. Developed by Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Limited, the medication now is approved for treatment in adults in India. The company also is working to create a children’s formula and make the drug available in Africa, Asia and South America.

“With more than 200 million cases of malaria each year, the potential impact this drug could have on saving and improving lives worldwide is significant,” Dr. Vennerstrom said. “That’s been our goal and now we are at the finish line.

Tim Wells, MMV’s chief scientific officer, said the completion of a phase III study in Indian adults and the approval of the combination by the Indian regulators was a major milestone. “We look forward to more data from patients in Africa and from studies with children, since this is where the vast majority of the disease is,” he said.

Courtney Fletcher, Pharm.D., dean of the UNMC College of Pharmacy, said another benefit of arterolane, the key component in the new drug invented by Dr. Vennerstrom, is it’s a synthetic. “This is an importance advance in antimalaria drugs. Since it’s a synthetic drug, it doesn’t depend on the availability of a natural plant source like some other antimalarials, which also makes it less expensive.”

Dr. Vennerstrom and his team also have developed a second drug candidate that might be even more superior than the first. It currently is being tested in phase II clinical trials by MMV in Bangkok, Thailand.

“This drug candidate seems to stay in the body longer, and therefore it may be possible to use a single dose instead of three doses,” Dr. Vennerstrom said. “We all forget to take our medications from time to time, so compliance becomes much easier when you have a single-dose drug.”

As a child of missionary parents working in Ethiopia, Dr. Vennerstrom took medications to prevent malaria.

Dr. Vennerstrom and his team received more than $12 million in grants from Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), a non-profit organization in Geneva, Switzerland. He has been studying malaria for more than 25 years. The research team included scientists at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute in Switzerland and Monash University in Australia. MMV receives about 60 percent of its funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

“We were very fortunate to receive the support for our project from MMV,” he said. “It is always unpredictable whether or not a drug candidate will be successful.”

Source: University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC)

Researchers Discover Proteins in Mosquitoes that Help Fight Malaria Infection

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Researchers have discovered the function of a series proteins within the mosquito that transduce a signal that enables the mosquito to fight off infection from the parasite that causes malaria in humans. Together, these proteins are known as immune deficiency (Imd) pathway signal transducing factors, are analogous to an electrical circuit. As each factor is switched on or off it triggers or inhibits the next, finally leading to the launch of an immune response against the malaria parasite.

The latest study, conducted at the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, builds upon earlier work of the research team, in which they found that silencing one gene of this circuit, Caspar, activated Rel2, an Imd pathway transcription factor of the Anopheles gambiae mosquito. The activation of Rel2 turns on the effectors TEP1, APL1 and FBN9 that kill malaria-causing parasites in the mosquito’s gut. More significantly, this study discovered the Imd pathway signal transducing factors and effectors that will mediate a successful reduction of parasite infection at their early ookinete stage, as well as in the later oocyst stage when the levels of infection were similar to those found in nature.

“Identifying and understanding how all of the players work is crucial for manipulating the Imd pathway as an invention to control malaria. We now know which genes can be manipulated through genetic engineering to create a malaria resistant mosquito” said George Dimopoulos PhD, professor in the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

To conduct the study, Dimopoulos’s team used a RNA interference method to “knock down” the genes of the Imd pathway. As the components were inactivated, the researchers could observe how the mosquito’s resistance to parasite infection would change.

“Imagine a string of Christmas lights or other circuit that will not work when parts aren’t aligned in the right sequence. That is how we are working with the mosquito’s immune system,” explained Dimopolous. “We manipulate the molecular components of the mosquito’s immune system to identify the parts necessary to kill the malaria parasites.”

Malaria kills more than 800,000 people worldwide each year. Many are children.

The authors of “Anopheles Imd pathway factors and effectors in infection intensity-dependent anti-Plasmodium action” are Lindsey S. Garver, Ana C. Bahia, Suchismita Das, Jayme A. Souza-Neo, Jessica Shiao, Yuemei Dong and George Dimopoulos.

The research was funded by the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute and was published June 7, 2012 in the journal PLoS Pathogens.

Source: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Nikhil Rautela, Research Associate, AZ, Bangalore

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AstraZeneca is working with partners such as MMV and AMREF to fight Malaria and some, of the company’s scientists have been writing about their experience in doing this. Nikhil Rautela, is a Research Associate at AstraZeneca in Bangalore, and writes:

My name is Nikhil and I am a Research Associate at AstraZeneca’s R&D unit in Bangalore, India. Working as a Research Associate, I test compounds from the AZ library for their activity against the malaria causing parasite which is grown in our laboratory in Bangalore. It is a very exciting time to be working for AstraZeneca and with our partners on this project where the concerted efforts are looking immensely positive.

World Malaria Day holds a special value to me and reminds me of the task ahead that we all have to eradicate a disease that has been affecting us for years. I was brought up in a region which is endemic to the disease; every year you hear tragic stories of how it has affected people’s lives.  Also, having personally suffered from malaria myself, it gives me a sense of deep involvement that I represent AstraZeneca in a partnership with the Medicines for Malaria Venture  which is one of the very few collaborations that work on malaria and shares the same passion that I have towards fighting the disease.

Although the disease has been eradicated from most of the developed countries, it still remains the second highest killer in the world. The biggest challenge has been early evolvement of resistance to every drug available which highlights the need for new drugs. The past few years have seen a renewed effort to tackle the disease head-on through constructive collaboration – one that I am part of. A united effort with partners through sharing of experiences and information is already bearing fruit by upping the pace of drug discovery.

Source: AstraZeneca

 

 

 

 

President’s Malaria Initiative 2012

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April 25, 2012, marks World Malaria Day, a day designated to call attention to malaria and to mobilize action to combat it. The U.S. Government, on behalf of the American people, has taken extraordinary steps to curb the spread of this preventable and curable disease.

Since PMI’s launch in 2005, PMI has worked with partners in 15 high-burden countries in Africa to scale up effective malaria prevention and treatment interventions. In 2011, PMI expanded to four additional countries in Africa and the Greater Mekong Subregion. Eleven of the countries where PMI has been working have reported significant reductions in deaths among children under the age of five – ranging from 16 to 50 percent. There is strong and growing evidence that malaria prevention and control is a major factor in these reductions.

More information: President’s Malaria Initiative 2012 Executive Summary (PDF)

Source: President’s Malaria Initiative

New Partners Join the Asia Pacific Malaria Elimination Network (APMEN)

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The Asia Pacific Malaria Elimination Network (APMEN) has announced two new Partner Institutions have joined the organization: The Mahidol Vivax Research Center and the Malaria Research Centre, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak.

The Mahidol Vivax Research Center (MVRC) established in March 2011 is dedicated to the study of Plasmodium vivax and non falciparum malaria. Its establishment at Mahidol University in Thailand is important to the region, as Mahidol has a long record in the field of tropical disease medicine and research. Mahidol Vivax Research Center was initiated by the Dean of the Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Associate Professor Pratap Singhasivanon and is directed by Dr. Jetsumon Prachumsri, formerly the leader of malaria research at the Armed Forces Research Institutes of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS) and APMEN Partner Institution representative.

The Malaria Research Centre was established at the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak in 2006 in recognition of the major contribution to malaria research by Professor Balbir Singh, Professor Janet Cox-Singh, and co-researchers at the Malaria Research Laboratory in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. MRC-UNIMAS is known for its work on Plasmodium knowlesi that was recognised by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2008 as the fifth species of Plasmodia parasite to infect humans in the wild.

MRC-UNIMAS found that many malaria infections in Sarawak, Malaysia, had been incorrectly diagnosed and a major cause of malaria was Plasmodium knowlesi that is transmitted via the bit of an Anopheline mosquito from long-tail and pig-tail macaques. P knowlesi has also been reported in other parts of Malaysia, Indonesia, and Philippines and may be endemic in more countries in Southeast Asia. The final elimination of malaria in the Asia Pacific region will depend on a greater understanding of P knowlesi and how we can target this zoonosis.

The Malaria Research Centre, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak and the Mahidol Vivax Research Center have already supported APMEN through their active participation at last year’s annual meeting in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

The fourth annual APMEN Annual Meeting will be held in May 2012 in Seoul, Republic of Korea. This year’s meeting will focus on how to sustain the gains made in the elimination of malaria and the importance in the coming years of maintaining successful approaches and their support. The region has many challenges to face in malaria elimination, in particular P. vivax, a type of malaria that is more difficult to diagnose and treat than P falciparum, the type of malaria most often discussed at a global level. APMEN through its information exchange, capacity building, and evidence building and advocacy activities is committed to supporting and maintaining elimination efforts in the Asia Pacific Region.

About the Asia Pacific Malaria Elimination Network
The Asia Pacific Malaria Elimination Network (APMEN) was established in 2009 to bring attention and support to the under-appreciated and little-known work of malaria elimination in Asia Pacific, with a particular focus on Plasmodium vivax.

APMEN is composed of 12 Asia Pacific countries (Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Republic of Korea, the Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vanuatu) that are pursuing malaria elimination, as well as leaders and experts from key multilateral and academic agencies. The mission of this diverse but cohesive Network is to collaboratively address the unique challenges of malaria elimination in the region through leadership, advocacy, capacity building, knowledge exchange, and building the evidence base.

Development of the Network took place in 2008 through the leadership of the UCSF Global Health Group (GHG) and the School of Population Health, University of Queensland (SPH/UQ). APMEN collaborates closely with the WHO and is supported by the Australian Government through its international aid agency AusAID with a commitment of nearly $7 million for ongoing support to the Network. This complements Australia’s overall support for malaria control and elimination in the Asia Pacific and globally.

Source: Asia Pacific Malaria Elimination Network (APMEN)

Naturally Drug-Resistant Cave Bacteria Possible Key to New Antibiotics

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New research findings suggest the key to finding a whole new variety of antibiotics to treat drug-resistant infections may lie with the resident bacteria in one of the most isolated caves in the world.

The U.S. scientists who conducted the study say bacteria collected from Lechuguilla Cave in the state of New Mexico appear to possess an innate resistance to antibiotics, despite never having been exposed to any human sources.

Some of the bacteria had a pre-existing defense against as many as 14 different antibiotics. In all, the scientists say the cave-dwelling organisms showed a naturally-developed resistance to virtually every antibiotic currently used to treat bacterial infections.

While this may sound like bad news, the researchers explain that finding isolated, drug-resistant bacteria actually is a good thing. They say it suggests there are many types of previously unknown, naturally-occurring antibiotics in the environment that can be developed for doctors to use against currently untreatable infections.

First discovered 70 years ago, antibiotics are only effective against disease caused by bacterial infection. However, decades of widespread overuse, especially in agriculture industries, and via over-prescription by doctors, has made increasing types of disease-causing bacteria – so-called superbugs – immune to antibiotics.

There is increasing concern among scientists and medical experts that current antibiotic treatments could become completely ineffective against bacterial infections, which would be catastrophic for millions of people around the world suffering from diseases such as malaria.

Meanwhile, the scientists who conducted the new research point out that none of the Lechuguilla Cave bacteria used in their work are capable of making people sick.

The study was led by researchers from McMaster University and the University of Akron, both in the state of Ohio. A report on their findings is published in the journal, PLoS One (Public Library of Science One).

Bacteria are highly-adaptable microscopic single-cell organisms. One of Earth’s earliest life forms, evidence in the fossil record indicates bacteria have existed for about 3.5 billion years.

In addition to malaria, examples of other serious illnesses caused by bacterial infection include bubonic plague, tuberculosis, salmonella, and certain types of pneumonia and meningitis.

However, not all bacteria are bad or cause disease. Most are harmless to humans. Naturally-occurring bacteria in the human body help digest food, provide vital nutrients, fight cancer cells, and destroy disease-causing microbes.

Lechuguilla Cave was discovered in 1986. Since then, the U.S. Park Service has tightly restricted access to only a few scientific researchers and cave experts per year. Surrounded by a thick layer of watertight rock, the cave also is geologically isolated. The scientists say it can take up to 10,000 years for water to reach the inner-recesses of the cave where they collected the bacteria samples for their study.

Source: VOA News

Comparison of Molecular Tests for the Diagnosis of Malaria in Honduras

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Honduras is a tropical country with more than 70% of its population living at risk of being infected with either Plasmodium vivax or Plasmodium falciparum. Laboratory diagnosis is a very important factor for adequate treatment and management of malaria. In Honduras, malaria is diagnosed by both, microscopy and rapid diagnostic tests and to date, no molecular methods have been implemented for routine diagnosis. However, since mixed infections, and asymptomatic and low-parasitaemic cases are difficult to detect by light microscopy alone, identifying appropriate molecular tools for diagnostic applications in Honduras deserves further study. The present study investigated the utility of different molecular tests for the diagnosis of malaria in Honduras. [Read more…]

Can Slide Positivity Rates Predict Malaria Transmission?

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Malaria is a significant threat to population health in the border areas of Yunnan Province, China. How to accurately measure malaria transmission is an important issue. This study aimed to examine the role of slide positivity rates (SPR) in malaria transmission in Mengla County, Yunnan Province, China. [Read more…]

World Malaria Day 2012

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“Sustain Gains, Save Lives: Invest in Malaria.”

World Malaria Day was established in May 2007 by the 60th session of the World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO). The day was established to provide education and understanding of malaria and disseminate information on  malaria-control strategies, including community-based activities for malaria prevention and treatment in endemic areas.

According to the World Health Organization, approximately half the world’s population is at risk from malaria. And while malaria  is a preventable and treatable disease, it still claims the life of a child every minute, with more than 90% of all malaria deaths occurring in Africa. [Read more…]