An inexpensive and simple method for screening potential antimalarial drugs.
The visual in vitro test proved to be a very useful tool for screening a series of 54 chemical analogues for their antimalarial activity. The test relies on the formation of dark pigment precipitates after an alkaline solution is added to synchronous cultures of Plasmodium falciparum. Pigment is produced when a chemical compound is unable to prevent the maturation of rings to schizonts during incubation. However, in the presence of effective concentrations of a compound, maturation is inhibited and, consequently, pigment and precipitation are not observed. By using this procedure, 36 of the inactive or less active compounds could be excluded from assessment by the radioisotopic hypoxanthine incorporation test. This resulted in a substantial reduction in the overall cost of screening these compounds.
Kotecka
B
B
Army Malaria Research Unit, University of Sydney, Australia.
Rieckmann
K H
KH
D000818:Animals; D000962:Antimalarials / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011232:Chemical Precipitation; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D010860:Pigments, Biological / Q000378:metabolism*; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000187:drug effects*
D000962:Antimalarials; D010860:Pigments, Biological