Exploring adjunctive therapies for cerebral malaria

Abstract

Cerebral malaria (CM) is one of the most severe complications of malaria infection characterized by coma and neurological effects. Despite standardized treatment of malaria infection with artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACT), the mortality rate is still high, and it primarily affects pediatric patients. ACT reduces parasitemia but fails to adequately target the pathogenic mechanisms underlying CM, including blood-brain-barrier (BBB) disruption, endothelial activation/dysfunction, and hyperinflammation. The need for adjunctive therapies to specifically treat this form of severe malaria is critical as hundreds of thousands of people continue to die each year from this disease. Here we present a summary of some potential promising therapeutic targets and treatments for CM, as well as some that have been tested and deemed ineffective or, in some cases, even deleterious. Further exploration into these therapeutic agents is warranted to assess the effectiveness of these potential treatments for CM patients.