title: Inhibition of Plasmodium Liver Infection by Ivermectin.
abstract: Avermectins are powerful endectocides with an established potential to reduce the incidence of vector-borne diseases. Here, we show that several avermectins inhibit the hepatic stage of Plasmodium infection in vitro Notably, ivermectin potently inhibits liver infection in vivo by impairing parasite development inside hepatocytes. This impairment has a clear impact on the ensuing blood stage parasitemia, reducing disease severity and enhancing host survival. Ivermectin has been proposed as a tool to control malaria transmission because of its effects on the mosquito vector. Our study extends the effect of ivermectin to the early stages of mammalian host infection and supports the inclusion of this multipurpose drug in malaria control strategies.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: António M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Mendes
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: Inês S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Albuquerque
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Machado
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: Joana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pissarra
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: Patrícia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Meireles
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal mprudencio@medicina.ulisboa.pt.
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Prudêncio
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D009033:Culicidae; D006801:Humans; D007559:Ivermectin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008099:Liver / Q000469:parasitology*; D008288:Malaria / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000472:pathogenicity*
chemical_list: D007559:Ivermectin; C019264:avermectin
keywords: Plasmodium; avermectins; ivermectin; liver stage; malaria