Viagra may prevent malaria transmission, study revealed

According to the study, it was revealed that Viagra helps in eliminating the malaria from the blood transmission of the deadly parasite from humans to mosquitoes. It does by increasing the stiffness of erythrocytes infected infected by the causal agent of malaria.

The study is carried out by the scientists at the Institut Cochin in Paris and the Institut Pasteur, working in collaboration with a team from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, could lead to a treatment to reduce the spread of malaria within a population.

Malaria is caused by the parasite Plasmodium falciparum which has a complex developmental cycle that is partially completed in humans and partially in the anopheline mosquito. The treatments for malaria target the asexual forms of this parasite that cause symptoms, but not the sexual forms transmitted from a human to a mosquito when it bites.

The sexual forms of the parasite develop in human erythrocytes sequestered in the bone marrow before they are released into the blood. They are then accessible to mosquitoes, which can ingest them when they bite. But circulating erythrocytes - whether they are gametocyte-infected or not - are deformable, thus preventing their clearance via the spleen, which constantly filters the blood and only retains stiff, old or abnormal erythrocytes.

However, gametocyte-infected erythrocytes can easily pass through the spleen and persist for several days in the blood circulation. This discovery could help find new ways to stop the spread of malaria in a population, researchers said.

Modifying the active substance in Viagra to block its erectile effect, or testing similar agents devoid of this adverse effect, could result in a treatment to prevent transmission of the parasite from humans to mosquitoes. The research was published in the journal PLOS Pathogens.

By Lizitha