Mechanism of Antimalarial Action of Desferrioxamine B
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Date
2000-01
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University of Ghana
Abstract
Desferrioxamine B was shown to exhibit potent antimalaria activity. A single bolus
injection of lOOmg of desferrioxamine B per kilogram body weight of mice reduced
Plasmodium berghei anka parasitemia in CBA mice for 24 hours. Peripheral blood
samples of desferrioxamine B-treated mice taken at 0, 3, 6, 12, 24 and 48 hours after drug
administration show gross adverse ultrastructural changes in all developmental stages of
the malaria parasite (trophozoites, schizonts and gametocytes) and a reduction in parasite
numbers. The iron chelator was also found to function as an inhibitor of heme
polymerisation by binding to and immobilising the central ferric ion of parasite-associated
heme and hence disrupting heme detoxification into hemozoin
It was concluded that desferrioxamine B is active against Plasmodium berghei anka and
that iron chelation provides a new possible alternate strategy for the treatment of malaria.
Description
Thesis (MPhil)-University of Ghana, 2000