HSC PharmacologyTerm Project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

HSC PharmacologyTerm Project - Assignment Example The treatment has been somehow demanding due to the fact that P. falciparum develops resistance to any new medicine discovered to treat malaria. Due to this several pharmacological agents have been set in different times to cure malaria. Other plasmodium species that cause malaria are P. vivax, P. Ovale and P. malariae. Chloroquine also known as 4-aminoquinoline has been used to treat malaria caused by falciparum species in the malaria prone areas until this parasite developed a resistant to it. Chloroquine is a weak base that concentrates after mixing with the lysosome of the parasite, probably through parasite-specific drug concentrating mechanism. It’s a weak base and its concentration increases in the lysosome of the parasite probably through parasite –specific drug concentrating mechanism. After infection the parasite digests the hemoglobin forming ferriprotoporphorin IX known as haem which is very toxic to the parasite. However the parasite contains plasmodialhaem polymerase that converts haem to a red pigment associated with malaria referred to as haemozoin, harmless to the parasite. Chloroquine inhibits this enzyme and thus accumulation of haem destroys the parasite by membranolytic action. Moreover chloroquine intercalates in the parasites DNA and also causes fragmentation of its RNA. Chloroquine can be used for clinical cure where it lowers the effect of fever and destroys all the parasites in the blood in 24 hours as well as control method. Chloroquine is only a fundamental treatment for P. falciparum infection and not for P.vivax or P. ovale since the latter contain hypnozoites in the exo-erythrocytic phase that lead to clinical setback attack. However progaunil is combined with it to prevent these relapse in chemoprophylaxis. Due to the resistant nature of P.falciparum maloprim is combined. Apart from