Scientists Turn to Traditional Medicinal Plants to Find New Tools for Fighting Malaria The Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (Dakar)

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PRESS RELEASENovember 14, 2005 Posted to the web November 14, 2005 Yaoundé
East African scientists have translated new findings regarding the anti-mosquito properties of indigenous African plants into a low-cost and effective mosquito repellent that could play a role in reducing malaria transmission. Their research, to be presented this week at the Fourth Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM) Pan-African Malaria Conference, is indicative of a surge of scientific interest in the anti-mosquito properties of indigenous plant life.
Scientists from Kenyatta University and The International Center for Insect Physiology & Ecology (ICIPE), both in Nairobi, working with investigators from other East African research institutions, tested oils extracted from 150 East African plants for their ability to repel malaria-carrying mosquitoes and found that 20 of them appeared to be effective. They then formulated a mixture of the oils into a topical cream that is now being sold under the brand name Mozigone. Tests showed the cream was more effective than DEET, the chemical found in most widely used consumer brands of mosquito repellent, and cheaper to produce as well. (Tuesday, 1:00 p.m., Poster Session 1, Poster 16A)
The discussion of the scientific process that lead to the development of this new, plant-based repellent is one of many presentations at the MIM conference exploring how modern research is turning to traditional plants to find new weapons for the fight against malaria. Scientific efforts to derive new malaria medicines from indigenous plants have intensified since an extract of the wormwood plant, artemisinin, emerged as the leading drug for fighting the disease.
"There are certainly many opportunities for the use of traditional herbal medicines for malaria control," said Merlin Willcox, coordinator of an international network known as the Research Initiative for Traditional Antimalarial Methods (RITAM). But there are obstacles as well.
"The main problem is that policy makers are not open to this idea," he said, "because they are trained only in modern medicine. Also, they demand good quality evidence, but it is hard to find funding for the research needed to produce this evidence."
Willcox will be hosting a symposium, sponsored by the government of Cameroon, that will consider the potential use of traditional plants in national malaria control programs and the research needed to spur their adoptions. For example, scientists will discuss the potential for a Brazilian plant known as "Indian beer" to prevent malaria. Willcox said laboratory studies have shown the plant can kill the malaria parasite early in its lifecycle before it matures and does the most damage to the human body. Officials from Cameroon's Ministry of Health also will discuss new developments in policies affecting traditional medicine. (Wednesday, 9:00 a.m., Zingana Hall, Symposium 10)
Other presentations considering the anti-malarial properties plants include the following:
- Souleymane Sanon of the Centre National de Recherche et de Formation sur le Paludisme (Burkina Faso) will present data on two plants used by traditional herbal practitioners in Burkina Faso to treat malaria. Used in combination, Pavetta crassipes and Mitragyna inermis exhibited antimalarial properties when tested against a laboratory culture taken from a drug resistant form of the malaria parasite. "The synergistic effect of the two plants suggest their use in association with malaria treatment," the authors state. (Tuesday, 11:00 a.m., Bubinga Hall, Parallel Session 5, Presentation 28)
- In the search for new malaria medicines derived from natural sources, West African and U.S. Army researchers have collected and identified plant materials used in traditional medicine for the treatment of infectious diseases, including fevers and drug-resistant malaria. Their study investigated the anti-malarial activity of 1200 plant extracts belonging to 80 plant families and 253 species. Investigators say fifty-three percent of the extracts, some of which had never before been tested against the most deadly strain of malaria, P. falciparum, showed remarkable activity. (Thursday, 1:00 p.m., Poster Session 5, Poster 120C)
- Edith Ajaiyeoba of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, tested the antimalarial activity of methanol extract of Adansonia digitata (African baobab tree) in mice infected with a rodent form of malaria. The traditional use of baobab as a malaria treatment is well known throughout the West Africa region. The results of the test indicate that A. digitata bark extract was able to reduce malaria parasites in the mouse. (Tuesday, 1:00 p.m., Poster Session 5, Poster 121A)