AIM OF STUDY The ethnobotanical study surveyed the different types of medicinal plants used for the treatment of malaria in the south-western region of Nigeria. MATERIALS AND METHODS Information was collected by interviewing indigenous people, using a semi-structured questionnaire. Collected plant samples were identified and authenticated in Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria, Ibadan, Nig...

Anti-glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) antibodies (Abs) may reflect and mediate, at least partially, anti-disease immunity in malaria by neutralising the toxic effect of parasitic GPI. Thus, we assessed the anti-GPI Ab response in asymptomatic individuals living in an area of the Brazilian Amazon that has a high level of malaria transmission. For comparative purposes, we also investigated the ...

Malaria is a parasite infection affecting millions of people worldwide. Even though progress has been made in prevention and treatment of the disease; an estimated 214 million cases of malaria occurred in 2015, resulting in 438,000 estimated deaths; most of them occurring in Africa among children under the age of five. This article aims to review the epidemiology, future risk factors and curren...

Immunization with a synthetic glycan corresponding to Plasmodium falciparum glycosylphosphatidylinositols (GPIs) has been proposed as a vaccination strategy against malaria. We investigated the structural requirements for binding of naturally elicited anti-GPI antibodies to parasite GPIs. The data show that anti-GPI antibody binding requires intact GPI structures and that the antibodies are dir...

Abstract Alkyl-4-quinolones (AQs) are natural compounds synthesized by bacteria. Members of this group known quorum-sensing molecules. Other biological functions, such as anti-bacterial, anti-algal, antifungal, and anti-malaria activities have also been reported. The synthetic pathways AQs validated in Pseudomonas aeruginosa . Five genes ( pqsA–E ) involved the synthesis 2-heptyl-4(1H)-quinolon...

The bitter tasting bark is used for a variety of medical purposes. An extract of the bark of Khaya senegalensis is commonly used in African traditional medicine for pain and inflammation, against fever caused by malaria, stomach complaints and headaches. It is widely used in the treatment of fever, malaria, to cure skin rashes, wounds, mucous diarrhea, as an anti-microbial agent in venereal dis...

The anti-malarial activity of the anti-cancer drug methotrexate against chloroquine-sensitive T9-96 and the multidrug-resistant K1 strains of Plasmodium falciparum was assessed in vitro. Mean IC50 values of 0.32 +/- 0.05 nM and 48.02 +/- 4.40 nM were obtained for T9-96 and K1, respectively, indicating methotrexate's high potency against both sensitive and resistant P. falciparum strains in vitr...

The variant surface antigen VAR2CSA is a pregnancy malaria vaccine candidate, but its size and polymorphism are obstacles to development. We expressed 3D7-type VAR2CSA domains in Escherichia coli as insoluble His-tagged proteins (Duffy binding-like [DBL] domains DBL1, DBL3, DBL4, and DBL5) that were denatured and refolded or as soluble glutathione S-transferase-tagged protein (DBL6). Anti-DBL5 ...

CD163 is an acute-phase-regulated monocyte/macrophage membrane receptor expressed late in inflammation. It is involved in the haptoglobin-mediated removal of free hemoglobin from plasma, has been identified as a naturally soluble plasma glycoprotein with potential anti-inflammatory properties, and is possibly linked to an individual's haptoglobin phenotype. High levels of soluble CD163 (sCD163)...