Truth be told, through countless attempts to wage war against it or otherwise eradicate it, malaria is until now observed as endemic throughout parts of the globe, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America.
Malaria research provides promising avenues toward newer drugs and possibly the cure of people suffering from malaria. Here, we shall now discuss the latest advancements in malaria research that offer new treatment possibilities and potential paths toward a cure.
The Need for New Drugs
Plasmodium strains, which are drug-resistant, have emerged, making study toward malaria an even greater challenge. Resistance against chloroquine, sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine, and ACTs have been reported in various countries on the older antimalarial drugs. Hence, there arises a critical need to develop new drugs for effective treatment against drug-resistant malaria and to reduce the overall burden of this disease.
Recent Advances in Treatments in Malaria Research
1. Epigenetic inhibitors
Probably the last means of hope for recent developments in malaria, epigenetic inhibitors marked a very recent and probably first opportunity for drug discovery in the therapy of malaria. One such inhibitor, discovered experimentally, selectively killed the Plasmodium falciparum, the most deadly malaria parasite, by inhibiting chromatin remodeler PfSnf2L. PfSnf2L is a protein complex whose function is to regulate accessibility of DNA for its transcription.
Inhibition of PfSnf2L leads to disastrous disruption of gene expression in the parasite. A very large scale of this class of antimalarials would likely emerge, with a possibility of action against all life cycle stages of the parasite.
2. Next Generation Treatments for Severe Malaria
As far as it stands, severe malaria in children less than five years old has a treatment that is highly efficacious and with rapid antiparasitic activity. Presently, there is an effort by investigators to identify the target product profile for this group of severe malaria therapies.
These new drugs will quickly clear any infection, prevent complications, and stop the selection and spread of drug-resistant parasites. There will be concurrent administration of both approved and investigational drugs with the aim of prolonging the efficacy of existing therapies and thereby providing strong treatment alternatives for severe malaria.
3. Layered therapeutic interventions
Layered interventions therapy involves multi-layered tools of prevention and treatment all fitted into the delivery of a multi-faceted barrier against malaria. They overlap the various modes of activity targeting different phase conditions in the parasite’s life cycle while attending to the gaps in protection.
The current studies on layered interventions will be more concentrated toward the development of novel vaccines, injectable therapeutics, and oral chemoprevention drugs that can layer on top of already existing approaches. Thereby, one would expect the integration of such new layered intervention into programs for malaria control to enable fast-tracking mosquito control and improving reduction of transmission.
Potential Cures for Malaria
Curative treatments are those in which now are, and still, almost all for the treatment is aimed at the disease burden management and reduction. Finding cures ultimately will also be the future use of those. The most recent discoveries regarding possible new targets and approaches for drug discovery of curative properties are:
1. Monoclonal Antibodies
Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are manufactured proteins that can bind with a specific target within the malaria parasite and interfere with its lifecycle. Monoclonal antibodies have been spotted that distinguish parts of malaria parasites that had thus far been undetected, and hence a new angle to pest control and/or treatment.
Such antibodies could not interfere with existing vaccines using other monoclonal antibodies for malaria prevention and treatment.
2. Gene Editing and CRISPR Technology
Gene editing will highly become a part of curative therapy development for malaria. In particular, these therapies will involve the so-called CRISPR-Cas9 mechanism. Ideally, targeting and modifying certain genes in the malaria parasite would result in a change in its life cycle and elimination of its capacity to exist and reproduce.
The concept is to eradicate the parasite from a host and prevent its further transmission to others. While still at a very experimental stage, gene editing appears to provide good future prospects for malaria cures.
3. Targeting Dormant Liver Stages
A major barrier for malaria cure is the opportunity for relapse afforded by the finding of dormant liver stages of the parasite called hypnozoites, which can reactivate and start multiplying. Thus, newer drugs and strategies are being designed to target these dormant stages and eradicate them. This may give an opportunity to eradicate malaria altogether, given the appropriate approach will target this hidden reservoir of infection.
Conclusion
Malaria is far from being conquered. However, with the recent new frontiers in research, these should lead to developing newer treatment possibilities and maybe cures. Significant advances in combating malaria are epigenetic inhibitors, next-generation severe malaria drugs, and a layered therapeutic approach. Monoclonal antibodies create a space along with gene editing technologies and targeting dormant liver stages for some curative treatments in the making.
Therefore, continuous investment in initiatives that promote research and innovation is necessary for overcoming some of the challenges posed by drug-resistant malaria and therefore closer to eradicating malaria. With sustained commitment and collective effort, great strides can be made in this otherwise stronghold against humanity.
