Medicines for Malaria Venture, Geneva, Switzerland.
Trends Parasitol. 2010 Mar;26(3):145-51. doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2009.12.005. Epub 2010 Feb 3.
Plasmodium vivax is the major species of malaria parasite outside Africa. It is especially problematic in that the infection can relapse in the absence of mosquitoes by activation of dormant hypnozoites in the liver. Medicines that target the erythrocytic stages of Plasmodium falciparum are also active against P. vivax, except where these have been compromised by resistance. However, the only clinical therapy against relapse of vivax malaria is the 8-aminoquinoline, primaquine. This molecule has the drawback of causing haemolysis in genetically sensitive patients and requires 14 days of treatment. New, safer and more-easily administered drugs are urgently needed, and this is a crucial gap in the broader malaria-elimination agenda. New developments in cell biology are starting to open ways to the next generation of drugs against hypnozoites. This search is urgent, given the time needed to develop a new medication.
疟原虫 vivax 是非洲以外地区主要的疟原虫物种。它特别成问题的地方在于，在没有蚊子的情况下，感染可以通过肝脏中休眠的休眠疟原虫的激活而复发。针对恶性疟原虫红细胞阶段的药物也对疟原虫 vivax 有效，除非这些药物因耐药性而受到影响。然而，针对 vivax 疟疾复发的唯一临床治疗方法是 8-氨基喹啉，伯氨喹。这种分子有在遗传上敏感的患者中引起溶血的缺点，并且需要 14 天的治疗。迫切需要新的、更安全、更容易管理的药物，这是更广泛的消除疟疾议程中的一个关键差距。细胞生物学的新发展开始为针对休眠疟原虫的下一代药物开辟道路。鉴于开发新药所需的时间，这种搜索是紧迫的。
