3-Aminooxy-1-aminopropane and derivatives have an antiproliferative effect on cultured Plasmodium falciparum by decreasing intracellular polyamine concentrations.

The intraerythrocytic development of Plasmodium falciparum correlates with increasing levels of the polyamines putrescine, spermidine, and spermine in the infected red blood cells; and compartmental analyses revealed that the majority is associated with the parasite. Since depletion of cellular polyamines is a promising strategy for inhibition of parasite proliferation, new inhibitors of polyamine biosynthesis were tested for their antimalarial activities. The ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) inhibitor 3-aminooxy-1-aminopropane (APA) and its derivatives CGP 52622A and CGP 54169A as well as the S-adenosylmethionine decarboxlyase (AdoMetDC) inhibitors CGP 40215A and CGP 48664A potently affected the bifunctional P.