Transmission-blocking vaccines (TBVs) targeting sexual-stage antigens represent a critical tool for malaria control and elimination through inhibiting parasite development within mosquitoes. P230, displayed on the surface of gametocytes and gametes, plays a crucial role in gamete fertilization and is one of the leading TBV candidates for both Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMalaria control and elimination efforts would benefit from the identification and validation of new malaria chemotherapeutics. Recently, a transgenic line was used to perform a series of high-throughput in vitro screens for new antimalarials acting against the parasite sexual stages. The screens identified pyrimidine azepine chemotypes with potent activity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn the Amazon region, several species of triatomines occur in the natural environments. Among them, species of the genus are a risk to human populations due to their high rates of infection with The aim of this study was to identify the genotypes in specimens and their relationship with sylvatic hosts from different environments in the Brazilian Amazon. A total of 492 triatomines were collected from the municipalities of Monte Negro, Rondônia state, and Humaitá, Amazonas state, 382 of them being nymphs and 110 adults.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParasitol Res
December 2023
Circadian behavioral patterns in mosquitoes can be observed through their locomotor activity, which includes fundamental behaviors such as foraging, mating, and oviposition. These habits, which are fundamental to the life cycle of Anopheles mosquitoes, are closely related to pathogen transmission to humans. While rhythmic cycles of locomotor activity have been described in Anopheles species, no studies have been conducted on Anopheles darlingi species, the main malaria vector in the Amazon region.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Trop Med Hyg
October 2022
The 1990s saw the rapid reemergence of malaria in Amazonia, where it remains an important public health priority in South America. The Amazonian International Center of Excellence in Malaria Research (ICEMR) was designed to take a multidisciplinary approach toward identifying novel malaria control and elimination strategies. Based on geographically and epidemiologically distinct sites in the Northeastern Peruvian and Western Brazilian Amazon regions, synergistic projects integrate malaria epidemiology, vector biology, and immunology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHuman malaria continues to be a public health problem and an important cause of morbidity and mortality in the world. Malaria control is achieved through both individual protection against mosquito bites and drug treatment, which is hampered by the spread of Plasmodium falciparum resistance to most antimalarials, including artemisinin derivatives. One of the key pharmacological strategies for controlling malaria is to block transmission of the parasites to their mosquito vectors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMalaria is currently highly prevalent and restricted to the north of Brazil, and its dynamics are severely affected by human environmental changes, such as the large dam construction recently approved by the Brazilian Government in Rondônia. We studied the mosquito fauna and behavior before hydroelectric construction. Mosquitoes were captured by human landing catches on the riversides of the Madeira River in Porto Velho, Rondônia.
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