New, Promising Compounds Eliminates Malaria Parasite in Only Two Days

There may be a cure for malaria in the future. Scientists have discovered that a promising anti-malarial compound tricks the immune system to rapidly destroy red blood cells infected with the malaria parasite, but leaves healthy cells unharmed.

Malaria is caused by a parasite that's spread through the bit of an infected mosquito. This disease remains a serious issue across the globe. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that a child dies of malaria every minute.

The compound is called (+)-SJ733. It was developed from a molecule that was identified in a previous study that helped to jumpstart worldwide anti-malarial drug development efforts. This compound uses a novel mechanism to kill the parasite by recruiting the immune system to eliminate malaria-infected red blood cells. In fact, a single dose of the compound managed to kill about 80 percent of malaria parasites within 24 hours. After 48 hours, the parasite was undetectable.

"Our goal is to develop and affordable, fast-acting combination therapy that cures malaria with a single dose," said Kiplin Guy, one of the researchers, in a news release. "These results indicate that SJ733 and other compounds that act in a similar fashion are highly attractive additions to the global malaria eradication campaign, which would mean so much for the world's children, who are central to the mission of St. Jude."

The researchers have already begun planning for safety trials of the compound in healthy adults. In theory, researchers could develop a treatment for malaria, which would be a huge boon the world over. It's also possible that the mechanism that the compound uses could slow and suppress development of drug-resistant strains of the parasite.

The findings are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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