ABSTRACT
Malaria kills more than 500,000 people yearly, mainly affecting Africa and Southeast Asia. The disease is caused by the protozoan parasite from the genus Plasmodium, with Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum being the main species that cause the disease in humans. Although substantial progress has been observed in malaria research in the last years, the threat of the spread of Plasmodium parasites persists. Artemisinin-resistant strains of this parasite have been reported mainly in Southeast Asia, highlighting the urgent need to develop more effective and safe antimalarial drugs. In this context, natural sources, mainly from flora, remain underexplored antimalarial spaces. The present mini-review explores this space focusing on plant extracts and some of their isolated natural products with at least in vitro antiplasmodial effects reported in the literature comprising the last five years (2018-2022).
ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT Introduction The college sports environment is characterized by breadth, diversity, and personality. This is an important period to develop students' physical ability and improve their personality. Objective Compare the effects of different exercise methods on students' health status. Methods 2991 college students participated in different sports activities. These sports were conducted based on the selection course (PE), all during one semester. The students' physical health status was observed through experiments performed before and after the intervention. Results Activities such as basketball and soccer showed high effectiveness in improving students' vital capacity index, volleyball expressively improved students' performance in the long jump, tennis and table tennis were effective in improving students' strength and adherence index, being lower in other indices. Martial arts also stood out in improving the students' vital capacity index. Conclusion Improving physical health should be an overall process of students' fitness development, and universities should actively encourage college students to participate in long-term sports to improve their health. Level of evidence II; Therapeutic studies - investigation of treatment outcomes.
RESUMO Introdução O ambiente do esporte universitário é caracterizado pela abrangência, diversidade e personalidade. Este é um período importante para desenvolver a capacidade física dos estudantes e melhorar a sua personalidade. Objetivo Comparar os efeitos de diferentes métodos de exercício sobre o estado de saúde dos estudantes. Métodos 2991 estudantes universitários participaram de diferentes atividades esportivas. Estes esportes foram conduzidos com base no curso de seleção (PE), todos durante um semestre. O estado de saúde física dos estudantes foi observado através de experimentos executados previa e posteriormente à intervenção. Resultados Atividades como basquetebol e futebol demonstraram alta efetividade para melhorar o índice de capacidade vital dos estudantes, voleibol melhorou expressivamente o desempenho dos alunos no salto em distância, o tênis e o tênis de mesa foram efetivos para aprimorar o índice de força e de adesão dos alunos, sendo inferior noutros índices. Também as artes marciais se destacaram ao melhorar o índice de capacidade vital dos alunos. Conclusão O aprimoramento da saúde física deve ser um processo global de desenvolvimento da aptidão física dos estudantes e as universidades devem encorajar ativamente os estudantes universitários a participar de esportes de longo prazo para melhorar sua saúde. Nível de evidência II; Estudos terapêuticos - investigação dos resultados do tratamento.
RESUMEN Introducción El entorno del deporte universitario se caracteriza por su alcance, diversidad y personalidad. Es un periodo importante para desarrollar la capacidad física de los alumnos y mejorar su personalidad. Objetivo Comparar los efectos de diferentes métodos de ejercicio sobre el estado de salud de los estudiantes. Métodos 2991 estudiantes universitarios participaron en diferentes actividades deportivas. Estos deportes se llevaron a cabo basándose en el curso de selección (PE), todo ello durante un semestre. El estado de salud física de los alumnos se observó mediante experimentos realizados antes y después de la intervención. Resultados Actividades como el baloncesto y el fútbol mostraron una alta eficacia para mejorar el índice de capacidad vital de los alumnos, el voleibol mejoró expresivamente el rendimiento de los alumnos en salto de longitud, el tenis y el tenis de mesa fueron eficaces para mejorar el índice de fuerza y adherencia de los alumnos, siendo inferiores en otros índices. También las artes marciales se destacaron en la mejora del índice de capacidad vital de los alumnos. Conclusión La mejora de la salud física debería ser un proceso global del desarrollo de la forma física de los estudiantes y las universidades deberían animar activamente a los universitarios a participar en deportes de larga duración para mejorar su salud. Nivel de evidencia II; Estudios terapéuticos - investigación de los resultados del tratamiento.
ABSTRACT
Lipoic acid (LA) is an organic compound that plays a key role in cellular metabolism. It participates in a posttranslational modification (PTM) named lipoylation, an event that is highly conserved and that occurs in multimeric metabolic enzymes of very distinct microorganisms such as Plasmodium sp. and Staphylococcus aureus, including pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) and α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase (KDH). In this mini review, we revisit the recent literature regarding LA metabolism in Plasmodium sp. and Staphylococcus aureus, by covering the lipoate ligase proteins in both microorganisms, the role of lipoate ligase proteins and insights for possible inhibitors of lipoate ligases.
ABSTRACT
Malaria remains as one of the major public health problems worldwide. About 228 million cases occurred in 2018 only, with Africa bearing about 93% of the cases. Asymptomatic population carrying the various forms of the parasite Plasmodium in endemic areas plays an important role in the spread of the disease. To tackle this battle, more sensitive and precise detection kits for malaria are crucial to better control the number of new malaria cases. In this review, we not only discuss some of the available approaches to rapidly detect new malaria cases in endemic areas but also shed light on parallel problems that may affect the detection of individuals infected with the parasite, covering kelch 13 mutation, glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, and hemoglobin disorders. Available approaches for malaria detection covered in this review are focused on point-of-care tests, including portable polymerase chain reaction and aptamers.
Subject(s)
Malaria/diagnosis , Point-of-Care Testing , Biosensing Techniques/methods , Humans , Microscopy/instrumentation , Microscopy/methods , Self-Sustained Sequence ReplicationABSTRACT
Malaria remains one of the deadliest diseases worldwide and it is caused by the protozoan parasite Plasmodium spp. Parasite visualization is an important tool for the correct detection of malarial cases but also to understand its biology. Advances in visualization techniques promote new insights into the complex life cycle and biology of Plasmodium parasites. Live cell imaging by fluorescence microscopy or flow cytometry are the foundation of the visualization technique for malaria research. In this review, we present an overview of possibilities in live cell imaging of the malaria parasite. We discuss some of the state-of-the-art techniques to visualize organelles and processes of the parasite and discuss limitation and advantages of each technique. © 2019 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry.