Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 20, 2025

Optimized Griess Reaction for UV-Vis and Naked-eye Determination of Anti-malarial Primaquine
08:31

Optimized Griess Reaction for UV-Vis and Naked-eye Determination of Anti-malarial Primaquine

Published on: October 11, 2019

10.4K

Elevating uric acid as an antimalarial target

Ian Drobish1, Hans Ackerman2

  • 1Physiology Unit, Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD, USA; Critical Care Medicine Department, NIH Clinical Center, Bethesda, MD, USA; Division of Infectious Diseases, Children's National Hospital, Washington, DC, USA.

Trends in Parasitology
|May 22, 2025
PubMed

Insights

Malaria causes severe child deaths and neurological damage. Targeting uric acid offers a new therapeutic strategy to combat malaria

Area of Science:

  • Malariology
  • Neuroscience
  • Metabolic pathways

Background:

  • Malaria remains a leading cause of child mortality globally.
  • Neurological complications significantly impact survivors of pediatric malaria.
  • Current treatments focus on parasite clearance, not disease pathology.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore uric acid as a potential therapeutic target for malaria.
  • To investigate mechanisms underlying malaria-induced neurological injury.
  • To identify novel anti-disease strategies beyond antiparasitic drugs.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of existing literature on malaria and uric acid.
  • Review of studies investigating neurological sequelae of malaria.
  • Exploration of metabolic pathways implicated in malaria pathogenesis.

Main Results:

  • Uric acid is implicated in the inflammatory and pathological processes of malaria.
  • Elevated uric acid levels correlate with disease severity and neurological outcomes.
  • Targeting uric acid may mitigate malaria-associated pathology.

Conclusions:

  • Uric acid presents a promising target for novel anti-disease malaria therapies.
  • Interventions modulating uric acid could improve outcomes for children with malaria.
  • Further research is warranted to develop uric acid-targeted treatments.

Keywords:
Plasmodiumhyperuricemiamalariauric acidxanthine oxidase, brain

More Related Videos

High Yield Purification of Plasmodium falciparum Merozoites For Use in Opsonizing Antibody Assays10:38

High Yield Purification of Plasmodium falciparum Merozoites For Use in Opsonizing Antibody Assays

Published on: July 17, 2014

23.2K
Ookluc: A Plasmodium berghei Line for Identifying Transmission-blocking Compounds07:14

Ookluc: A Plasmodium berghei Line for Identifying Transmission-blocking Compounds

Published on: July 11, 2025

185

Related Concept Videos

Phase II Reactions: Glucuronidation01:24

Phase II Reactions: Glucuronidation

Glucuronidation, a pivotal phase II biotransformation process, involves the coupling of glucuronic acid to a drug or xenobiotic. Given its widespread occurrence and critical role in drug metabolism, it's considered the most crucial phase II reaction. It enhances the water solubility of substances, aiding their expulsion from the body. The driving force behind these reactions is a group of enzymes known as UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs). UGTs facilitate the transfer of a glucuronic acid...
861
Urinary Tract Calculi III: Medical Management01:30

Urinary Tract Calculi III: Medical Management

The diagnosis of renal calculi involves several imaging techniques, including non-contrast CT scans and ultrasound. These methods help visualize kidney stones, assess their size and location, and detect possible obstructions. Additionally, Measuring urine pH is useful for diagnosing specific stone types, such as struvite (alkaline pH) and uric acid stones (acidic pH). Cystine stones are primarily linked to cystinuria, a genetic condition. A urinalysis helps detect blood in the urine (hematuria)...
35
Antihypertensive Drugs: Action of Diuretics01:16

Antihypertensive Drugs: Action of Diuretics

Diuretics are antihypertensive drugs used to treat hypertension resulting from sodium and water retention. Sodium, vital for fluid balance and nerve or muscle function, is regulated by the kidneys through millions of nephrons. Blood enters nephrons via afferent arterioles, which branch into capillaries called glomeruli. These filter blood plasma, allowing water and solutes, like sodium ions, to pass through capillary walls into Bowman's capsule. The filtrate then flows through various...
895
Enhanced Elimination of Poison01:26

Enhanced Elimination of Poison

Poison can be effectively removed from the gastrointestinal (GI) tract through various decontamination procedures.
Antidotes serve a crucial role in counteracting the effects of poison by inhibiting enzymes responsible for producing harmful drug metabolites. In some cases, these toxic metabolites can be neutralized by endogenous cosubstrates, which are maintained at specific concentrations to prevent interaction with cellular macromolecules and subsequent cell death.
Renal excretion is the...
589
Drug Elimination by Renal Route: Tubular Secretion01:15

Drug Elimination by Renal Route: Tubular Secretion

Once the process of glomerular filtration is completed, blood carrying unfiltered drug molecules traverses through efferent arterioles and makes its way into the peritubular capillaries in the proximal tubule. A variety of carriers play a pivotal role in actively secreting drugs from these peritubular capillaries into the tubular fluid. The organic anion transporter transfers acidic drugs, against an electrochemical gradient, from the peritubular capillaries into the renal tubule cells and...
2.6K