Title
MEFAS, a hybrid of artesunate-mefloquine active against asexual stages of Plasmodium vivax in field isolates, inhibits malaria transmission
Date Issued
01 December 2021
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Penna-Coutinho J.
da Silva Araújo M.
Campos Aguiar A.C.
Sá P.M.
Medeiros J.F.
Pereira D.B.
Boechat N.
Krettli A.U.
Publisher(s)
Elsevier Ltd
Abstract
Human malaria continues to be a public health problem and an important cause of morbidity and mortality in the world. Malaria control is achieved through both individual protection against mosquito bites and drug treatment, which is hampered by the spread of Plasmodium falciparum resistance to most antimalarials, including artemisinin derivatives. One of the key pharmacological strategies for controlling malaria is to block transmission of the parasites to their mosquito vectors. Following this rational, MEFAS, a synthetic hybrid salt derived from artesunate (AS) and mefloquine has been previously reported for its activity against asexual P. falciparum parasites in vitro, in addition to a pronounced reduction in the viability of mature gametocytes. Herein, MEFAS was tested against asexual forms of Plasmodium vivax and for its ability to block malaria transmission in Anopheles darlingi mosquitoes in a membrane feeding assay using P. vivax field isolates. MEFAS demonstrated high potency, with a IC50 of 6.5 nM against asexual forms of P. vivax. At 50 μM, MEFAS completely blocked oocyst formation in mosquitoes, regardless of the oocyst number in the control group. At lower doses, MEFAS reduced oocyst prevalence by greater than 20%. At equivalent doses, AS irregularly reduced oocyst formation and caused only slight inhibition of mosquito infections. These results highlight the potential of MEFAS as a novel transmission-blocking molecule, as well as its high blood schizonticidal activity against P. vivax and P. falciparum field isolates, representing a starting point for further development of a new drug with dual antimalarial activity.
Start page
150
End page
155
Volume
17
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Parasitología
Farmacología, Farmacia
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85116925739
PubMed ID
Source
International Journal for Parasitology: Drugs and Drug Resistance
ISSN of the container
22113207
Sponsor(s)
We thank Dr. Dionicia Gamboa and Dr. Manuela Herrera (Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru) and Dr. Joseph Vinetz (Yale School of Medicine, USA) for collaboration with the implementation of the An. darlingi colony in Porto Velho/RO. We thank Dr. Carolina Bioni for allowing the laboratory and other facilities in Porto Velho to be utilized, and Dr. Ricardo Gazzinelli (Fiocruz, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil) for financial help in the field work. We also thank Dr. Roberto S. Rocha (Director of the Fiocruz, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil) for the payment for the publication of the article. We thank the Foundation for teh Research Support of the State of São Paulo (FAPESP - 2019/19708-0).
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus