Major progress has been made in the last five years to reduce the suffering
and death caused by malaria infection worldwide. In the absence of effective
preventative tools, such as vaccines, chemotherapy is a principal option to treat
malaria. To date, Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) is used as the most
effective treatment strategy against malaria infection, which made a significant impact
in reducing overall mortality and morbidity. Nevertheless, the current armamentarium
of anti-malarial drugs is far from satisfactory as they have unacceptable toxic side-effects, along with resistance to the conventional treatment regime, emphasizing the
need to identify new compounds and alternative treatment strategies to stay one step
ahead in this evolutionary arms race between host and parasites. Developing a vaccine
would be the most desirable remedy for eliminating this deadliest parasitic disease.
Furthermore, immunotherapy can also be the future to treat the inflammatory disease
caused by the intracellular pathogen of the genus Plasmodium. In this pursuit,
regulation of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory pathways in a correct manner by
maintaining optimal Treg/Th17 balance may be the key to successful
immunotherapeutic treatment against malaria. In this chapter, the history and
mechanism of action of some important anti-malarial drugs have been narrated, along
with the future possibilities of potential therapeutic approaches against malaria.
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