Malaria Treatment and Stem Cells

In some countries, Malaria is still a challenge. The highest rates of mortality are reported in sub-Saharan Africa, where children under five years of age, pregnant women and immunocompromised patients are the most vulnerable groups. People living in these endemic areas still do not receive proper antimalarial therapy. Insecticides resistance, antimalarial drug resistance and commercialization of counterfeit and substandard antimalarials, are key factors contributing to complexity in malaria control; trying to find new alternatives to treat and control malaria, some members of the scientific community, have recently started to work in the field of stem cell therapy in experimental malaria models. The purpose of the present chapter is to make a general review concerning various aspects of the use of stem cell therapy and how these findings could improve clinical aspects during malaria pathogenesis and could be used in the field of antimalarial drug design. An overview of the effect of the parasite on the stem cells production in the host, as in hematopoiesis and in neurogenesis, is also described.

Keywords: Adult Neurogenesis, Bone Marrow Stromal Cells, Cognitive Dysfunction, Hepatocytes, Hematopoiesis, Hippocampus, Malaria, Malaria Pathogenesis, Malaria Drug Design, Mesenchymal Cells, Memory, Murine Malaria, Neurogenesis, Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax, Stem Cell Therapy.