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PARA434 > Lecture 6: Plasmodium > Flashcards

Lecture 6: Plasmodium Flashcards

1
Q

what clinical disease is caused by plasmodium spp?

A

malaria

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2
Q

environment that malaria can be most found

A

stagnant water attracts mosquitoes for breeding grounds, which are vectors for malaria.

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3
Q

how is malaria transmitted?

A
  • malaria is an obligate intracellular parasite
  • malaria parasites are transmitted from one person to another by the bite of a female ANOPHELES mosquito
  • the female mosquito bites during dusk and dawn and needs a blood meal to feed her eggs.
  • there are 500 species of anopheles mosquito but only 24-36 are important vectors of human malaria.
  • Anopheles breed in water- hence accumulation of water favours the spread of the disease
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4
Q

why is Africa most infected by malaria?

A
  • A gambiae is primarily found in Africa!

-A gambiaeas preferred host is always humans! over livestock.

  • A. gambiae will always try to take blood from humans.
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5
Q

what 4 parasite species cause malaria in humans?

A
  • plasmodium falciparum
  • plasmodium vivax
  • plasmodium malariae
    -plasmodium ovale
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6
Q

which 2 plasmodium are the most common?

A
  • plasmodium falciparum and plasmodium vivax
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7
Q

which plasmodium species is the deadliest and who transmits it?

A
  • plasmodium falciparum is the deadliest.
  • transmitted mainly by A gambiae
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8
Q

what is the life cycle of plasmodium?

A

https://www.cdc.gov/malaria/about/biology/

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9
Q

red blood cell defense against malaria

A

red blood cell have been adapted to reduce plasmodium infection

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10
Q

what are some of those adaptations?

A

changes in hemoglobin

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11
Q

Acquired Immunity

how do people living in endemic areas acquire an immunity to malaria?

A
  • have a low level of the parasite in their blood but don’t acquire the disease
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12
Q

how can you lose your acquired immunity?

A
  • leaving the country for several months you will lose the acquired immunity
  • you will get a full malaria infection when you return home
  • also no vaccines achieve the same level of protection as acquired immunity.
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13
Q

what is the main issue regarding malaria?

A
  • world wide drug resistance
  • limited acquired immunity requires repeat infections
  • no vaccine available with operational impact
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14
Q

what are 3 major clinical featuers of malaria?

A
  • acute febrile attacks
  • splenomegaly
  • coma
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15
Q

what is the malaria pathogenesis

A
  • destruction of erythrocytes (red blood cells)
  • when replicating parasites burst from the erythrocyte, it liberates the parasite and erythrocyte material into blood circulation
  • host reaction to these events include fever, shivering, convulsions, vomiting , and anemia - caused by hemolysis
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16
Q

what are the classic sudden symptoms of malaria?

A

cyclical occurrence of sudden coldness followed by stiffness and then fever and sweating, lasting four to six hours, occurring every two days or three.

17
Q

why is p falciparum especially virulent?

A

causes RBCs to become sticky, by expressing proteins (adhesion molecules called knobs) on the RBC surface.

sticky ends adhere to each other and the lining of capillaries.

18
Q

why does the ability for RBCs to adhere make the parasite lethal?

A

allows the parasite to bypass splenic clearance.

19
Q

what do knobs do?

A

they cause infected RBCs to adhere to the endothelium and to each other.

20
Q

what is cerebral malaria?

A

parasites are found deep in the vasculature of the brain

21
Q

what is maternal malaria?

A

parasites adhere to the lining of the placenta but they do not cross the placenta to infect the fetus.

22
Q

Malaria diagnostic

how do we analyze blood?

A
  • thick and thin blood smear is the gold standard
23
Q

ways to prevent malaria? (3)

A
  1. reduce human mosquito-contact
  2. reduce vector capacity
  3. reduce parasite reservoir
24
Q

how to reduce human-mosquito contact?

A

avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes:

  • insect repellant
  • insecticide-treated bed nets
  • clothing
25
Q

how to reduce vector capacity

A

insecticides

  • malaria medication
26
Q

what is Quinine?

A
  • a toxic plant alkaloid from the bark of the cinchona tree in south america
  • the only drug that over a long period of time, has remained largely effective for treating malaria
  • used for the treatment of malaria only over a long period of time., has remained largely effective for treating malaria.
27
Q

what is chloroquine?

A
  • synthetically manufactured product
  • belongs to the class of compounds known as 4-aminoquinolines
  • used to prophylactic and for treatment
  • most malaria strains are now resistant to chloroquine
28
Q

what is atovaquone/ proguanil (malarone)

A
  • Antifolate
  • Inhibits e- transport and collapses mitochondrial membrane potential
  • 95% effective in otherwise drug resistant falciparum malaria (resistant strains exist)
  • Expensive, largely side-effect free
29
Q

what is fansidaar? what does it do?

A
  • drug combination
  • acts by interfering with folate metabolicm
  • resistance widespread
  • mainly used in pregnant women
30
Q

sfolate metabolism

A

parasites are required to synthesize their own folic acid; they cannot import pre-formed folic acid but humans can

tetrahydrofolic acid is an essential cofactor for the synthesis of nucleic acid precursors and some amino acids.

31
Q

Why is Apicoplasta a possible new parasite?

A
  • novel organelle with four membranes
  • acquired by secondary endosymbiosis
  • harbours its own 35kb genome
  • essential for the survival of the parasite
  • function still not clear but possibly includes fatty acid synthesis, isoprenoid synthesis and heme synthesis

PARA434 (6 decks)

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