Application of Nanotechnology in Malaria Research

Abstract

Introduction

In many ways, malaria is giving a challenge to researchers globally, day by day. But, the potential of nanotechnology/nanomedicine to work at the nanoscale has allowed us to target receptors/molecules of the parasite directly at a nanoscale level as well as the impetus to develop devious nanostructures that could solve the problems which previously impeded the conventional pharmacological approaches from being successful. Over the four decades, the slow but steady integration of life-sciences disciplines and nanotechnology has started transforming the way to detect and diagnose for the betterment of health¹. This idea was first presented in 1974 by Professor Norio Taniguchi², and it received the least attention concerning malaria. However, drug resistance, social demerits, and environmental concerns made malaria the exterminator and notorious disease that is known to all. The mainstay of current anti-plasmodial medication is chemotherapy, which comes with toxic severe side effects. Resistance among the parasite spp. that leads to treatment failure, insufficient knowledge of the biology and pathology of a parasite, complexity of life-cycle, dispersed locations of Plasmodium spp., and the difficulty in developing new antimalarial drugs as this development process is time-consuming and an expensive, poses a significant challenge when researchers are trying to create new antimalarial medications³. Therefore, researchers are trying to deliver drugs without toxicity and improve efficacy⁴ by employing nanotechnological approaches. It enhances its solubility profile, modifies the pharmacokinetic characteristics of the drug, prevents drug deterioration, and supports a continuous release of the drug at the intended site.