Khairul Mohd, Fadzli Mustaffa
(2018)
A study of inhibition and reversal of plasmodium
Falciparum cytoadherence using rna apatamer
specific to icam-1 /cd54 and cd36 protein.
(Submitted)
Abstract
Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites transmitted to humans through the bite
of infected Anopheles mosquitoes. The disease mostly affects children, pregnant women, non-immune
persons, and individuals with chronic diseases such as human immunodeficiency virus and acquired
immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV I AIDS). Malaria causes complications such as severe anemia,
metabolic acidosis, and cerebral malaria, often leading to death if not treated within 24 h [1,2].
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported there were 438,000 deaths caused by malaria
worldwide, especially in the endemic areas such as Africa [3]. In humans, malaria is caused by five
distinct Plasmodium species, namely P falciparum, P vivax, P malariae, P knowlesi, and two sub-species
of Plasmodium ovale (Po. curtisi and Po. wallikeri) [4-6]. Of these, P falciparum causes the most severe
disease due to higher parasitemia, and it is responsible for the massive burden of global mortality and
morbidity [7,8]. Despite extensive interventions by WHO to prevent, control and eliminate malaria,
the transmission of the disease continues in many countries around the world. The interventions
consist of an array of drugs, insecticides, diagnostics, and understanding of the breeding site criteria [9].
Other factors that contribute to the prevalence of malaria include increased transmission risks among
people who are non-immune to the disease~ the growth in international travel and migration, and the
escalation of drug-resistant parasites [10]. However, the underlying mechanism that contributes
to malaria severity in a patient is still not well understood, adding to the difficulty in curbing the
disease's progression.
Several drugs are available for malaria treatment including chloroquine, sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine
(SP), and quinine, which are working well in many parts of the world. Unfortunately, there is a
grave concern that the malaria parasites have developed a widespread resistance to anti-malarial
drugs, especially in the endemic regions [11,12]. Anti-malarial drug resistance has been observed
for P. falciparum, P. vivax and P. malariae in most parts of the world [13]. The SP resistance is seen
in Papua New Guinea, Thailand, Indonesia, Madagascar, Iran, Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan
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