Malaria

Malaria is among the most life-threatening and widespread diseases in the world, causing 250-300 million cases and about 2 million deaths annually. The disease is caused by four Plasmodium species (i.e. P. falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale and P. malariae) which are transmitted to humans during the bite of the female anopheles mosquito.

The methodology to test our extract and pure compounds is efficient and accurate for the detection of anti-malarial agents based upon the intercalation of the fluorochrome PicoGreen® into Plasmodium DNA. PicoGreen® is an ultra sensitive fluorescent nucleic acid stain for measuring double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) in solution and enables the detection of quantities as low as 25 pg/mL of dsDNA with a moderately priced spectrofluorometer using fluorescein excitation and emission wavelengths.

This non-radioactive DNA-based assay, using PicoGreen® with 485 nm excitation and 528 nm detection, was developed in Dr. Ortega-Barria's laboratory to measure the growth of Plasmodium falciparum (W2 strain), in erythrocytes Parasite growth was measured after cells had been incubated with extracts at 50, 10, or 2 microg mL-1 of crude extract for two days. Cloroquine were used as a positive control.


  • It is as sensitive as the radioactive method
  • It is less costly than the radioactive method
  • Does not require special waste disposal

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Samples are tested for

activity in bioassays

against cancer,

HIV,leishmaniasis,

Chagas' disease,

malaria and

agricultural pests.