Artemether and imatinib combination therapy against malaria infection

Authors / Institutions

Anatoly V. Kondrashin / I.M.Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University), Moscow, Russian Federation

Ekaterina V. Stepanova / I.M.Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University), Moscow, Russian Federation

Lola F. Morozova / I.M.Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University), Moscow, Russian Federation

Vladimir P. Sergiev / I.M.Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University), Moscow, Russian Federation

Maria S. Maksimova / I.M.Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University), Moscow, Russian Federation

Natalya A. Turbabina / I.M.Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University), Moscow, Russian Federation

Natalya S. Malysheva / Kursk State Medical University, Kursk, Russian Federation

Ekaterina Solovyeva / I.M.Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University), Moscow, Russian Federation

Irina V. Kurashkina / “Vector Plus” LLC, Bryansk, Russian Federation

Anatoly S. Dovgalev / Russian Medical Academy of Continuous Professional Education, Moscow, Russian Federation

Evgeniy N. Morozov / I.M.Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University), Moscow, Russian Federation

Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the first and second line of treatment for uncomplicated malaria caused by P. falciparum, as well as for chloroquine-resistant P. vivax malaria. Despite the large number of antimalarial drugs, there is no any ideal drug, since each individual combination of drugs or monotherapy have their own limitations, ranging from their triple (activity) in relation to certain forms of the development of Plasmodium in the human body, side effects, toxicity and resistance. During the course of the study carried out, the most promising compound-candidate was selected – imatinib, which is currently used as targeted therapy for a number of oncological diseases.
The objective of this work is to evaluate the efficacy of the combined use of imatinib and artemether in vivo studies on the human malarial model – the rodent malaria parasites Plasmodium berghei. Dut to the optimally selected treatment scheme, it was possible to reduce the dosage of imatinib twice – to 0,25 mg/kg, and that of artemether three times – to 33 mg/kg. The use of this scheme made it possible to considerably reduce the toxic effect of these drugs due to the potentiation of antimalarial effect. 
Key words: malaria, drug resistance, telomerase inhibitors, imatinib, chemotherapy of malaria
For citation: Kondrashin A.V., Stepanova E.V., Morozova L.F., Sergiev V.P., Maksimova M.S., Turbabina N.A., Malysheva N.S., Solovyeva E.A., Kurashkina I.V., Dovgalev A.S., Morozov E.N. Artemether and imatinib combination therapy against malaria infection. Infekc. bolezni (Infectious diseases). 2021; 19(1): 139–143. (In Russian). DOI: 10.20953/1729-9225-2021-1-139-143