Title:Malaria, Antimalaria Drugs, Drug/Parasite Interactions, and the Brain: A Review of Impacts on Behaviour, Neurochemistry and Structure
Volume: 18
Issue: 3
Author(s): Onaolapo Adejoke Yetunde, Onaolapo Olakunle James*Adeyeba Oluwaseyi Adegboyega
Affiliation:
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Osogbo, Osun State,Nigeria
Keywords:
Cerebral malaria, inflammation, malaria, memory, neurology, plasmodium species.
Abstract: Background: Recorded history shows that malaria has plagued mankind for centuries, if
not millennia, with the disease infecting and affecting several body tissues, organs and systems; including
the central nervous system. Cerebral malaria is a severe form of malaria that may be associated
with acute and chronic general behavioural, neurological or neuropsychiatric manifestations. The
observation that the use of certain antimalaria drugs may also be associated with behavioural, neurochemical
and structural brain changes complicates the picture, as both the infection and its treatment
may cause significant changes in brain structure/function and behaviour. However, scientific literature
appears to have made only a limited (if any) attempt at distinguishing the central nervous system effects
of malaria infection from those of antimalaria drugs, and those that may occur due to possible interactions
between the parasite and the drugs; as it relates to behaviour, brain neurochemistry, and
neuromorphology. In this narrative review, we examine available literature dealing with the subject of
the central effects of: The plasmodium parasite, antimalaria drugs, and interactions between drugs and
the parasite; with a view to delineating the behavioural, neurochemical and neuromorphological
changes that may occur due the infection, the drugs, and with the interactions of the drugs with the
parasites inside the host.
Conclusion: While research examining this subject matter continues to advance our understanding of
the interactions amongst parasite/drug and the brain; for now, there are more questions than answers in
relation to the effects of antimalaria drug/parasite interactions on the brain.
