News

A Portland State University (PSU) researcher has designed a promising new approach to treatment for the most common form of malaria.

David Peyton, a chemistry professor at PSU, has modified chloroquine, previously the most successful drug used in treating Plasmodium falciparum, a strain of malaria that accounts for 80 percent of human malarial infections and 90 percent of deaths. Over the years, the malaria parasite developed a resistance to chloroquine, necessitating larger doses. Alternative drug therapies run the risk of dangerous side effects for pregnant and nursing women, as well as children—populations that constitute the majority of those at risk of dying from the infection.

The results of Peyton’s work were published in the August 12, 2006, online edition of the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. An abstract and links to the full article can be found online at http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abstract.cgi/jmcmar/asap/abs/jm060399n.html.

Peyton’s work was conceptually simple—binding an additional molecule that functions to overcome the resistance to the chloroquine molecule to create a new hybrid molecule. There are many advantages of a single hybrid molecule over a drug cocktail for those situations in which the hybrid approach works. Among the advantages is the potential for lowering the dose required, with reduced side effects and lower cost to the patient.

Laboratory tests showed the new molecule to be effective against P. falciparum. Further tests, using mice, have proven promising with no side effects evident. Work is ongoing to move beyond the initial “proof-of-concept” molecule to make a practical and inexpensive treatment for malaria, a disease that is a growing worldwide problem.

“Malaria is the single most important parasitic disease, in terms of human suffering,” says Peyton. “Chloroquine was our best drug for the young children and pregnant women who are most at-risk for dying of malaria. Equally important, it was affordable to almost anyone, at pennies for a cure. If we can design a drug that approaches these advantages, then millions of lives will be improved.”

In addition to his work on anti-malarial agents, David Peyton’s research centers around the use of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy in biological systems, including investigating the three-dimensional structures of proteins in the solution state. Peyton also directs Portland State University’s NMR facility, which serves the entire Portland metro area. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of California at Santa Barbara and did postdoctoral fellowships at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University and the University of California at Davis.

Members of the media interested in interviewing Professor David Peyton should contact David Santen, PSU Office of University Communications, 503-725-8789/503-807-7503/santend@pdx.edu.

Additional Resources
Center for Disease Control Malaria Info: http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/
SciDevNet Article: http://www.scidev.net/News/index.cfm?fuseaction=readNews&itemid=3054&language=1
Royal Society of Chemistry Article: http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2006/August/18080601.asp
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry Article: http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abstract.cgi/jmcmar/asap/abs/jm060399n.html
PSU Department of Chemistry: http://www.chem.pdx.edu/index.html

For Immediate Release (#06-100)

Source: David Peyton, PSU Department of Chemistry (503-725-3875)