Recent Progress in the Synthesis of Antimalarial Agents

摘要

Malaria is a disease which is caused by parasites of the Plasmodium genera that are transmitted from person to person through the bites of infected mosquitoes and can be transmitted to people of all ages. About half of the world's population is at risk of malaria causing about 216 million clinical cases and 655,000 deaths every year, 85% of which occur in children under the age of five. Malaria traps families and communities in a downward spiral of poverty, disproportionately affecting marginalized and poor people in the poorest countries who cannot afford treatment or have limited access to health care. Over the past decade, artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) have brought new hope to the fight against malaria although resistance of malaria parasites to old drugs such as chloroquine is already widespread. However, it has been reported that Plasmodium falciparum parasites in the border region of western Cambodia and eastern Thailand have shown evidence of resistance to artemisinins. This region has historically given rise to other drug-resistant strains of P. falciparum that eventually spread through Asia to Africa. A deterioration of the susceptibility of P. falciparum to artemisinins and the possibility that resistance will spread beyond the Greater Mekong sub-region are real threats to global strategies for the control and elimination of malaria. Therefore, there is an urgent need to enhance the pipeline of antimalarial medications that counter resistance and that are safe and easy for use in the most vulnerable populations.