Antiplasmodial Activity of Angiotensin II Analogs

摘要

Malaria is an infectious disease caused by parasites of the genus Plasmodium. According to the World Health Organization, 584,000 people died of malaria in the world, and 78% of these cases were children under five [1]. Antimalarial compounds have been studied including angiotensin II (All) with 88% inactivation efficiency towards P. gallinaceum parasites [2]. Other authors have studied the importance of each amino acid residue applying the Ala-scan method as well as amino acid deletions of the molecule [3,4]. The malaria cycle in the intermediate host begins with a bite from female mosquitos. Protozoa in the form of sporozoites are present in the salivary gland of the mosquito. These enter the bloodstream and reach the liver cells. The sporozoites begin to divide several times resulting in a large number of parasites in the form of merozoites. The liver merozoites invade red blood cells and initiate the so-called erythrocytic cycle. At this stage, the infected individual has mainly anemia and sporadic fever [5]. Based on this information, the present work proposes an analysis into a better hydrophobic/hydrophilic balance in angiotensin analogs (DRVYIHPF) to increase the antimalarial activity in the sporozoites of Plasmodium galinaceum. This technology increases efficacy without side-effects [6].