A new study has found that sildenafil citrate, commonly known as Viagra, the little blue pill that is known to help people with erectile dysfunction, has shown potential in stopping the spread of Malaria.
A team of researchers from France, England and Italy used an artificial spleen in the study to find a way to keep the parasites and their cells stiff. Viagra was able to increase the presence of a messenger molecule known as cyclic adenosine monophosphate, or cAMP, causing the parasite-infected red blood cells to stiffen and increasing their chances of being filtered out of the blood. Decreasing the levels of cAMP, however, had the opposite effect, Science Alert reported.
The pill does not keep anyone from being infected with Malaria. Rather, it helps cure those already inflicted, and it keeps the spread of the disease because the stiffened red blood cells are filtered out of the blood stream and flushed out of the body. This keeps these cells from being sucked by mosquitoes, which are known to be the carrier of the disease.
There are 198 million vases of malaria around the world every year, and the disease results in the death of 500,000 people each year, Science Alert reported.
While today's methods of treating malaria aim to stop immature forms of the parasite, this new approach is novel because it targets the mature forms of the parasite.
"This strategy ... opens new avenues toward the design of novel interventions to halt the spread of malaria to humans," the study authors wrote, The Mirror reported.
As the study progresses in to developing drugs for the cure of malaria, the researchers will make sure to alter the drug so that the erectile effect of Viagra will not be experienced by malaria-inflicted patients.
The study was published in the May 7 issue of the journal PLOS Pathogens.
