Targeting the Plasmodium falciparum proteome and organelles for potential antimalarial drug candidates.

There is an unmet need to unearth alternative treatment options for malaria, wherein this quest is more pressing in recent times due to high morbidity and mortality data arising mostly from the endemic countries coupled with partial diversion of attention from the disease in view of the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic. Available therapeutic options for malaria have been severely threatened with the emergence of resistance to almost all the antimalarial drugs by the Plasmodium falciparum parasite in humans, which is a worrying situation. Artemisinin combination therapies (ACT) that have so far been the mainstay of malaria have encountered resistance by malaria parasite in South East Asia, which is regarded as a notorious ground zero for the emergence of resistance to antimalarial drugs. This review analyzes a few key druggable targets for the parasite and the potential of specific inhibitors to mitigate the emerging antimalarial drug resistance problem by providing a concise assessment of the essential proteins of the malaria parasite that could serve as targets. Moreover, this work provides a summary of the advances made in malaria parasite biology and the potential to leverage these findings for antimalarial drug production.

Prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection among blood donors at the Tamale Teaching Hospital, Ghana (2009).

BACKGROUND: Despite education and availability of drugs and vaccines, hepatitis B virus (HBV) is still the most common severe liver infection in the world accounting for >1 million annual deaths worldwide. Transfusion of infected blood, unprotected sex and mother to child transmission are 3 key transmission routes of HBV in Ghana. There is high incidence of blood demanding health situations in northern Ghana resulting from anemia, accidents, malnutrition, etc. The higher the demand, the higher the possibility of transmitting HBV through infected blood. The aim of the investigation was to estimate the prevalence of HBV in blood donors which will provide justification for interventions that will help minimize or eliminate HBV infection in Ghana. FINDINGS: We investigated the prevalence of HBV infection among blood donors at Tamale Teaching Hospital. The Wondfo HBsAg test kit was used to determine the concentration of HBsAg in 6,462 (576 voluntary and 5,878 replacement) donors as being ≥1 ng/ml. 10.79% of voluntary donors and 11.59% of replacement donors were HBsAg+. The 20-29 year group of voluntary donors was >2 times more likely to be HBsAg + than 40-60. Also the 20-29 year category of replacement donors was >4 times as likely to be HBsAg + than 50-69. CONCLUSIONS: Risk of infection was age, sex and donor type dependent. The 20-29 year category had the highest prevalence of HBsAg + cases, mostly males residing within the metropolis.

Mitochondria as pharmacological targets: the discovery of novel anti-obesity mitochondrial uncouplers from Africa's medicinal plants.

Obesity results from prolonged positive imbalance between energy in take and expenditure. When food intake chronically exceeds the body's energy need, an efficient metabolism results in the storage of the excess energy as fat. Mitochondria are the main centre for energy production in eukaryotic cells. Mitochondrial proton cycling is responsible for a significant proportion of basal or standard metabolic rate, therefore, further uncoupling of mitochondria may be a good way to increase energy expenditure and hence represent a good pharmacological target for the treatment of obesity. This implies that, any chemical agent or photochemical compound that further uncouples the mitochondria in vivo without having any effect on mitochondria activity could be a potential target in finding treatment for obesity. In the past, uncoupling by 2, 4-dinitrophenol has been used this way with notable success. This paper discusses the mitochondria as targets in the discovery of potential plant natural anti-obesity products from Africa's rich rainforests.