Long-acting injectable atovaquone nanomedicines for malaria prophylaxis

Rahul P. Bakshi, Lee M. Tatham, Alison C. Savage, Abhai K. Tripathi, Godfree Mlambo, Matthew M. Ippolito, Elizabeth Nenortas, Steve P. Rannard (), Andrew Owen () and Theresa A. Shapiro
Additional contact information
Rahul P. Bakshi: The Johns Hopkins University
Lee M. Tatham: University of Liverpool
Alison C. Savage: University of Liverpool
Abhai K. Tripathi: The Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute
Godfree Mlambo: The Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute
Matthew M. Ippolito: The Johns Hopkins University
Elizabeth Nenortas: The Johns Hopkins University
Steve P. Rannard: University of Liverpool
Andrew Owen: University of Liverpool
Theresa A. Shapiro: The Johns Hopkins University

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Chemoprophylaxis is currently the best available prevention from malaria, but its efficacy is compromised by non-adherence to medication. Here we develop a long-acting injectable formulation of atovaquone solid drug nanoparticles that confers long-lived prophylaxis against Plasmodium berghei ANKA malaria in C57BL/6 mice. Protection is obtained at plasma concentrations above 200 ng ml-1 and is causal, attributable to drug activity against liver stage parasites. Parasites that appear after subtherapeutic doses remain atovaquone-sensitive. Pharmacokinetic–pharmacodynamic analysis indicates protection can translate to humans at clinically achievable and safe drug concentrations, potentially offering protection for at least 1 month after a single administration. These findings support the use of long-acting injectable formulations as a new approach for malaria prophylaxis in travellers and for malaria control in the field.

Date: 2018
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-02603-z Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:9:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-017-02603-z

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-02603-z

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().