Daily Research

Abstract Objective  The global impact of artemisinin-based combination therapies on malaria-associated mortality and their origins in ancient Chinese medicine has heightened interest in the natural discovery of future antimalarials. Methods  A double-blind study to identify potential ingredients with antimalarial activity from traditional remedies with reported antipyretic properties. Recipes of clear broths, passed down by tradition in families of diverse ethnic origin, were sourced by school children. Broths were then tested for their ability to arrest malaria parasite asexual growth or sexual stage development in vitro. Clear broth extract was incubated with in vitro cultures of  Plasmodium falciparum  asexual or mature sexual stage cultures and assayed for parasite viability after 72 hours. Results  Of the 56 broths tested, 5 were found to give >50% in vitro growth inhibition against  P. falciparum  asexual blood stages, with...

New research raises hopes of oral vaccine for dogs, the chief source of transmission to humans Researchers have discovered a way to stop rabies from shutting down critical responses in the immune system, a breakthrough that could pave the way for new tools to fight the deadly disease. Rabies kills almost  60,000 people each year , mostly affecting poor and rural communities. It is hoped that the discovery could lead to new and improved vaccines, including oral vaccines for dogs – which are responsible for the vast majority of transmissions to humans. The study,  published in Cell Reports  and carried out by teams at Monash University and the University of Melbourne, provides crucial information about how the rabies virus targets the body. The researchers believe they are the first to observe how a particular protein made by the rabies virus binds to a critical cellular protein known as Stat1, halting key parts of the immune response. The discovery has allowe...