Malaria remains responsible for 50,000 deaths annually. An ever-expanding population coupled with malaria gaining resistance to treatments are prominent roadblocks.
As reported in Science Alert, the plan is radical. The goal is to control mosquitoes and fight malaria. The process consists of lacing the blood of humans with a low dose of nitisinone known to be poisonous to insects. Nitisinone was granted regulatory approval for the treatment of specific rare and inherited diseases. It is currently being used in the United Kingdom.
A team of scientists are testing the drug on three patients who had been treated with nitisinone for a genetic disorder. The drug was tested by having mosquitoes suck blood from the three patients. The insects died in twelve hours. Nitisinone blocks a certain protein leading to a reduction of toxic byproducts.
Lee Haines, a Liverpool microbiologist, reported that findings indicate the use of nitisinone offers a new tool to control disease, such as malaria.
A Word of Caution
Professor Haines cautions that this is a new treatment and attention should be drawn to anti-parasitic drugs which have not reduced malaria rates.
It is noteworthy that in other research, nitisinone has not been seen to kill many of the insects associated with pollination in ecosystems. Admittedly, broader ecological impacts have not been well studied. Professor Haines sees a possible problem later if the meds that kill mosquitos are integrated into major drug programs.
Impact of Various Doses
When the team reviewed nitisinone’s efficacy through the use of math models to determine the effect of various doses, they discovered that the drug killed mosquitos at every age.
The antiparasitic drug ivermedtin is currently used to kill mosquitos. However, nitisinone is fast-acting and stays in blood longer. Therefore it is more likely for the insects to be in contact with the drug.
Alvaro Serrano, a parasitologist at the Liverpool Tropical Medicine School commented that nitisinone offers a new approach to fighting malaria without presenting a risk to either humans or wildlife.
