Malariamug kan bestreden worden met
schimmels
Malariamuggen die een hoge resistentie
hebben tegen pesticiden, kunnen volgens onderzoekers van de Wageningen Universiteit
bestreden worden met een combinatie van chemische en biologische middelen.
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Radio - Malaria opgelost
Atlas zet alle zeilen bij om de wereld na
het einde van LLiNK een beetje mooier achter te laten. Daarom gaan we deze zomer de wereld
redden. In een serie van zes gesprekken zet een expert een wereldprobleem uiteen en
vertelt hij hoe dit kan worden opgelost. Deze week bestrijden wij malaria, samen met Bart
Knols.
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Duizenden stoffen tegen malaria
ontdekt
Wetenschappers hebben duizenden nieuwe
stoffen geïdentificeerd die de basis kunnen vormen voor een middel tegen malaria.
Link
Medicijnen malaria patentvrij
De Britse farmaceut GlaxoSmithKline maakt
duizenden chemische samenstellingen die mogelijk malaria kunnen genezen, patentvrij.
Link
UGent stelt technologische
ontwikkeling gratis ter beschikking voor bestrijding van malaria
Onderzoekers van de vakgroep
Geneesmiddelenleer (UGent, faculteit Farmaceutische Wetenschappen), onder leiding van
prof. Jean Paul Remon, hebben een vorm van kinine ontwikkeld die geschikt is voor
kinderen. Kinine wordt toegepast als geneesmiddel voor malaria. De UGent zal deze
technologische ontwikkeling gratis ter beschikking stellen van de Afrikaanse kinderen.
Kinine heeft een uiterst bittere smaak,
waardoor het tot nog toe zeer moeilijk als geneesmiddel voor kinderen kon worden gebruikt.
Door de ontwikkeling van een smaakloze vorm van kinine door UGent-onderzoekers kunnen
kinderen kinine nu wel gemakkelijk als geneesmiddel innemen. Deze vorm van kinine kan
zowel via een siroop of via een tablet toegediend worden aan kinderen, waarbij het
aanpassen van de dosis in functie van de leeftijd van het kind zeer eenvoudig is.
De UGent zal deze technologische
ontwikkeling gratis ter beschikking stellen van de Afrikaanse kinderen. Hiervoor zoekt de
UGent een pharmabedrijf dat bereid is om samen met de UGent dit nieuwe geneesmiddel aan
kost en zonder winst op de Afrikaanse markt te brengen. Het valorisatie beleid van de
UGent wil daarbij daadwerkelijk oog hebben voor de maatschappelijke impact van haar
technologische ontwikkelingen, en dus niet alleen economische doelstellingen nastreven.
Universiteit Twente verbetert
diagnose malaria
Onderzoekers van de Universiteit Twente
hebben samen met Philips een goedkopere en betere manier uitgedokterd om het aantal
malariaslachtoffers in Brazilië te verminderen.
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Tackling malaria with the help of a
medicinal herb
Scientists from the University of York are working to make vital malaria drugs cheaper and
more accessible to patients in developing countries by improving yields of one of the
world"s most important medicinal plants — the aromatic herb Artemisia. They will
showcase their work this week at a major public exhibition at the Royal Society in London.
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Discovery could help stop malaria
at its source -- the mosquito
Mosquitoes swarming around nearly 40 percent of the world’s population will continue
to spread a deadly parasitic disease -- malaria. Now an interdisciplinary team led by
researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has found a key link that causes
malarial infection in both humans and mosquitoes. If this link in the chain of infection
can be broken at its source -- the mosquito -- then the spread of malaria could be stopped
without any man, woman or child needing to a take a drug.
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'Window into the brain' reveals
deadly secrets of malaria
Looking at the retina in the eyes of patients with cerebral malaria has provided
scientists with a vital insight into why malaria infection in the brain is so deadly. In a
study funded by the Wellcome Trust and Fight for Sight and published today in the Journal
of Infectious Diseases, researchers in Malawi have shown for the first time in patients
that the build-up of infected blood cells in the narrow blood vessels of the brain leads
to a potentially lethal lack of oxygen to the brain. Malaria is one of the world's biggest
killers, killing over a million people every year, mainly children and pregnant women in
Africa, and adults in South-east Asia. Malaria parasites enter the bloodstream from bites
by infected mosquitoes and live in red blood cells, making them stick to the inside of
narrow blood vessels and causing blockages. Most deaths occur as a result of cerebral
malaria, where red blood cells infected by malaria parasites build up into the brain,
leading to coma and convulsions and, if not treated swiftly, death. Scientists have known
for some time that cerebral malaria is accompanied by changes in the retina, known as
malarial retinopathy which can be seen by examining the eye. Because the retina can be
considered as an extension of the central nervous system, it has been used previously as a
"window into the brain", allowing for swifter diagnosis of cerebral malaria.
However, until now it was not clearly understood why the disease should be so deadly.
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Researchers Find Essential Proteins
for Final Stage of Malaria Transmission Cycle
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute (JHMRI) have identified, for
the first time, the molecular components that enable the malaria-causing parasite
Plasmodium to infect the salivary glands of the Anopheles mosquito—a critical and
final stage for spreading malaria to humans. According to the researchers, saglin, a
mosquito salivary protein, is a receptor for the Plasmodium protein Thrombospondin-Related
Anonymous Protein (TRAP). The two proteins bind together to allow invasion of the salivary
gland by Plasmodium sporozoites, which can be transmitted to a human when bitten by an
infected mosquito.
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U of M researchers find cerebral
malaria may be a major cause of brain injury in African children
Researchers at the University of Minnesota have found that cerebral malaria is related to
long-term cognitive impairment in one of four child survivors. The research is published
in the current issue of the journal Pediatrics.
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McGill researchers report
breakthrough in rapid malaria detection
A research team led by Dr. Paul Wiseman of the departments of physics and chemistry at
McGill University has developed a radically new technique that uses lasers and non-linear
optical effects to detect malaria infection in human blood, according to a study published
in the Biophysical Journal. The researchers say the new technique holds the promise of
simpler, faster and far less labour-intensive detection of the malaria parasite in blood
samples.
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Supplementary approach to malaria
Could a simple vitamin A and zinc supplement help protect young children from malaria? A
randomized double blind trial reported in the open access publication, Nutrition Journal,
would suggest the answer is yes.
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Sea Cucumber Protein Used to
Inhibit Development of Malaria Parasite
Scientists have genetically engineered a mosquito to release a sea-cucumber protein into
its gut which impairs the development of malaria parasites, according to research out
today (21 December) in PLoS Pathogens. Researchers say this development is a step towards
developing future methods of preventing the transmission of malaria. Malaria is caused by
parasites whose lives begin in the bodies of mosquitoes. When mosquitoes feed on the blood
of an infected human, the malaria parasites undergo complex development in the
insect’s gut. The new study has focused on disrupting this growth and development
with a lethal protein, CEL-III, found in sea cucumbers, to prevent the mosquito from
passing on the parasite.
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Study suggests chimpanzees ingest
soil to enhance anti-malarial properties of plants
The deliberate ingestion of soil, or ‘geophagy’, has important health benefits
for chimpanzees, according to Sabrina Krief and her colleagues from the Muséum National
d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris, France. Far from being a dysfunctional behavior,
geophagy has evolved as a practice for maintaining health amongst chimpanzees. In this
particular study (1), to be published online this week in Springer’s journal
Naturwissenschaften, geophagy increases the potency of ingested plants with anti-malarial
properties.
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