title: Ultrastructure of Plasmodium falciparum "in vitro". II. Morphological patterns of different quinolines effects.
abstract: In the present morphological study, we used electron microscopy (EM) to evaluate the activity of three quinolines upon Plasmodium falciparum strains cultured in vitro. The drugs (namely chloroquine, mefloquine and a new active substance, SF6606) showed common cellular targets (i.e. feeding process, protein synthesis, membrane formation and utilisation) but gave rise to different morphological features. EM as a tool is able to reveal a variety of drug-induced alterations, but it does not seem to supply evidence of a definite mechanism of action. Nevertheless, our observations suggest that each drug acts via several mechanisms, possibly linked to different degrees of parasite susceptibility.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Olliaro
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Castelli
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Caligaris
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Druilhe
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Carosi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000962:Antimalarials / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002738:Chloroquine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007211:Indoles; D015767:Mefloquine; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D015394:Molecular Structure; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D011804:Quinolines / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000962:Antimalarials; D007211:Indoles; D011804:Quinolines; C061085:CM 6606; D002738:Chloroquine; D015767:Mefloquine