KU Leuven researchers discover promising medicine for treating severe malaria
The research team at KU Leuven university’s Rega Institute has found a medicine that may help in the fight against severe malaria. The drug, ruxolitinib, could be used specifically to combat inflammation and dangerously low blood sugar levels in severe malaria patients, two side effects that can be fatal.
So far, the researchers have only tested the medicine on mice with severe malaria. The animals showed the same symptoms as human patients. The steroid hormones glucocorticoids no longer work properly, causing the patient to suffer from life-threatening low blood sugar levels and extreme inflammatory reactions. “Treatment with this drug prevented both the low blood sugar levels and inflammation, and saved the lives of the infected mice,” explained Dr Fran Prenen, the PhD researcher on this project.
Most people who become infected with malaria only show mild symptoms, clarify the scientists, but other patients can experience severe symptoms. Fifteen to twenty per cent of those who are seriously ill can die from the disease. Every year, nearly 600,000 people die from malaria infection. Especially in Africa and the Amazon region, the risk of infection is still high.
Ruxolitinib is a drug used to slow down certain types of bone marrow cancer, amongst others. The laboratory identified similar symptoms and molecular processes in malaria patients. The KU Leuven lab wants to analyse this connection further. Further studies are also needed to determine whether the positive results in mice also apply to human patients.
#FlandersNewsService | Illustration © BELGA PHOTO LAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ
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