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MALARIA-PLATELETS
Platelets kill up to 60 pct of malaria parasites: Australian study
CANBERRA, Aug. 1, 2018 (BSS/XINHUA) – Platelets found within blood are the
human body’s first line of defence against malaria, a study announced on
Wednesday.
The study, published by the Menzies School of Health Research (MSHR) in
Australia’s Northern Territory (NT), revealed that platelets attack and kill
malaria parasites in the bloodstream.
Researchers from MSHR were assisted by collaborators from Australian
National University (ANU) and from Malaysia and Indonesia.
They found that the platelets attack by binding themselves to each of the
malaria parasite species which are lethal to humans.
“These are important findings and are the first direct evidence of
protection by platelets in any human infectious disease,” Steven Kho, a
Menzied PhD student who was the lead author of the study, said in a media
release on Wednesday.
“The platelets bind to the human red cells, containing the malaria
parasites, and kill the parasites by releasing into the red cell a toxic
platelet peptide called PF4. PF4-based peptides may be potential candidates
for malaria treatment in the future.
“We found that platelets may kill around 20 percent of circulating
Plasmodium parasites in clinical malaria, and in Plasmodium vivax this may be
as high as 60 percent.”
The study involved 376 people from Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and
Malaysia.
Nick Anstey, a senior principal research fellow at MSHR, said that the
human aspect of the study was crucial.
“Previous studies in laboratory mice infected with malaria parasites have
shown conflicting results, but the findings in human malaria are now clear —
platelets kill parasites. Studies involving people with malaria are often
difficult to do and they are expensive, but this study shows why they are
essential,” he said.
BSS/XINHUA/GMR/0910 hrs