HIV drugs could work against malaria
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Drugs currently used to treat people with HIV could also be used
against malaria, according to scientists at the Queensland In-
stitute of Medical Research, Australia.
The researchers, whose study will be published in December in
the Journal of Infectious Diseases, say their findings are im-
portant in tropical regions where people are often infected with
both HIV and malaria.
The study assessed the effect of six commonly used HIV drugs on
the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum in laboratory
tests. Three of the drugs stopped the parasite from growing,
while three had no effect.
The drugs block an important parasite molecule and were effec-
tive against malaria parasites that are resistant to currently
used drugs.
"At present, [these drugs] do not form part of the first line
treatment of HIV in developing countries," says Stephen Roger-
son, a malaria researcher at the University of Melbourne. "[This
is] for two reasons: expense, and in many instances the need for
cool storage of the drugs."
However, Rogerson told SciDev.Net, "growing evidence shows that
HIV-infected people respond less well to standard malaria ther-
apy", suggesting the need for a new class of anti-malarial drugs
specifically for those with HIV.
Although the Queensland researchers do not believe that these
drugs would be the first choice to initially treat malaria pa-
tients, they think they have identified a chink in the para-
site's armour that could be explored for the development of new
drugs.
The researchers say they are not sure exactly how the drugs act
against the malaria parasite. One theory they propose is that
the drugs inhibit an enzyme the parasite uses to digest haemo-
globin, the pigment in human blood that allows transport of oxy-
gen.
The next step, they say, is to test these results in patients
who have both HIV and malaria to determine how the drugs work in
combination with others.