Scientists are developing a new generation of medicines that could fight malaria and babesiosis, two diseases caused by parasites that are becoming increasingly resistant to existing drugs.
By studying natural compounds originally found in pine bark and marine sponges, researchers hope to create safer, more effective treatments that can overcome drug resistance and even stop the diseases from spreading.
The work is being led by researchers at the University of California, Riverside, in collaboration with the University of California, Irvine, and Yale University.
The projects have received more than $8 million in funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, to help move the promising compounds toward preclinical development.
Malaria remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases, killing hundreds of thousands of people every year, mainly in tropical regions.
Babesiosis is less well known but is becoming increasingly common in the United States as tick populations expand.
Although the two diseases are different, they are caused by closely related parasites that invade red blood cells, raising the possibility that a single treatment could work against both.
One of the biggest challenges facing doctors today is that these parasites are gradually becoming resistant to the medicines currently available. As resistance spreads, researchers are racing to find new drugs that attack the parasites in different ways.
The research team has already identified two promising groups of compounds. The first, called leelamine-derived isonitriles, is based on leelamine, a natural substance found in pine bark.
The second group, known as pyrroloiminoquinones, comes from compounds first discovered in marine sponges. Laboratory studies have shown that both groups are highly effective against malaria and babesiosis parasites, including strains that no longer respond well to existing medications.
Natural products have long been an important source of medicines. Many antibiotics and other drugs were originally discovered in plants, fungi or marine organisms.
However, these natural chemicals are often very complicated, making them difficult and expensive to produce. The compounds chosen for this project are simpler to manufacture while still retaining their powerful antiparasitic activity.
Over the next five years, the researchers will improve the chemical structures of these compounds, carefully study their safety and test how well they work in laboratory experiments and animal models.
They also want to understand exactly how the compounds kill parasites. If they target different biological pathways than current medicines, they could remain effective even when older drugs fail.
The scientists are also aiming for something even more ambitious. Instead of simply curing infected patients, they hope the new compounds will interrupt the parasites’ life cycle and prevent them from spreading to new hosts.
Their long-term goal is to develop an oral medicine that is easy to take and can both treat infections and reduce transmission.
The project brings together experts from several scientific fields. Chemists are creating and refining the compounds, parasite specialists are investigating how the drugs work at the molecular level, and researchers using animal models are testing their effectiveness and safety.
Because malaria and babesiosis belong to the same family of parasites, the discoveries may eventually help treat other related diseases as well, including toxoplasmosis.
Although the research is still in its early stages, the scientists are optimistic. If the compounds continue to show strong results during preclinical testing and future clinical trials, they could provide an important new weapon against some of the world’s most dangerous and increasingly drug-resistant parasitic diseases.
