Heparin study could mark malaria breakthrough

Researchers from the Walter and Eliza Hall and Burnett Institutes, and the Imperial College London have completed a potentially ground breaking study examining the ability of heparin-like molecules to neutralise the malaria virus before it reaches the red blood cells.

The results of the study were published this week in the journal Blood, a peer-reviewed publication of the American Society of Hematology.

The most common form of malaria is caused by the parasite Plasmodium Falciparum digging into red blood cells from where it quickly multiplies leading to severe disease and often death. Currently all anti-malarials licensed for use in humans block the development of the parasite from within the red blood cell, however the study has found that molecules similar to the drug heparin can actually prevent the parasite from entering the red blood cells in the first place.

“The malaria parasite needs a protein called MSP1 if it is to infect red blood cells as MSP1 is involved in the initial attachment of the parasite to the cells,” said Dr James Beeson from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute. “We have shown that heparin-like carbohydrates bind to MSP1 which stops the parasite from properly attaching to the red blood cell and, therefore, from invading.”

Humans produce heparin-like molecules naturally, but there’s just not enough of them in the blood to have anti-malarial activity, while heparin itself prevents blood clotting and therefore wouldn’t work as an anti-malarial. “However, we have identified related compounds that are more potent against malaria than heparin but do not prevent blood clotting,” Dr Beeson said. “These could form the basis of new anti-malarial drugs.”

Each year more than 400 million people contract malaria, with around 1 million, mostly children, losing their lives to the disease.

This research was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and the Victorian and Commonwealth governments.