Table 1 Details on current anti-malarial agents
From: Exploring anti-malarial potential of FDA approved drugs: an in silico approach
Drug name | Drug class | Anti-malarial activity | Side effects |
|---|---|---|---|
Quinine | Cinchona alkaloids | Accumulates in food vacuoles and forms toxic haem complexes | Side effects include hearing impairment, rashes, vertigo, vomiting and in some cases neurotoxicity |
Quinidine | |||
Mefloquine | Quinolines and derivatives | Nausea, dizziness, diarrhoea, bradycardia and neurotoxicity | |
Chloroquine | May cause psoriasis | ||
Amodiaquine | Vomiting, dizziness and in some cases hepatic disorders | ||
Primaquine | Â | Believed to block oxidative metabolism in the parasite | Anorexia, vomiting, cramps and anaemia |
Halofantrine | Phenanthrenes and derivatives | Causes parasite membrane damage by forming cytotoxic complexes | Nausea, diarrhoea, itching and high cardiotoxicity |
Sulfadoxine | Benzene and substituted derivatives | Inhibit synthesis of folates | Skin reactions (rare) |
Sulfamethoxypyridazine | |||
Proguanil | Very few: hair loss and mouth ulcers | ||
Pyrimethamine | Diazines | Occasional rashes | |
Tetracycline | Tetracyclines | Inhibits translation | – |
Doxycycline | Depression of bone growth and gastrointestinal disturbances | ||
Clindamycin | Carboxylic acids and derivatives | Inhibits protein synthesis | Nausea, vomiting and cramps |
Azithromycin | Macrolides and analogues | May cause angioedema and jaundice | |
Artemisinin | Lipids and lipid-like molecules | Believed to affect mitochondrial electron transport chain [46] or disrupt cellular redox cycling or inhibition of haem metabolism [47] | Nausea, anorexia, dizziness and neurotoxicity |
Atovaquone | Naphthalenes | Affects mitochondrial electron transport chain | May cause rashes, diarrhoea and headache |