More than one in four Australians aged over 50 are prescribed cholesterol-lowering medications to help reduce their risk of heart disease and stroke. However, cholesterol is essential for our body’s survival. Recently, researchers from The Australian National University (ANU) have revealed that cholesterol plays a crucial role as a fundamental component of life, opening new possibilities for treating severe diseases caused by parasites, including malaria.
More than one in four Australians aged over 50 are prescribed cholesterol-lowering medications to help reduce their risk of heart disease and stroke. However, cholesterol is essential for our body’s survival. Recently, researchers from The Australian National University (ANU) have revealed that cholesterol plays a crucial role as a fundamental component of life, opening new possibilities for treating severe diseases caused by parasites, including malaria.
The team has devised a clever method akin to a trojan horse, which deceives malaria parasites into absorbing a lethal dose of medication by leveraging the parasites’ dependence on cholesterol. By attaching medication to cholesterol molecules, the researchers can effectively “smuggle” the drugs into the parasites where they can do their job of destroying them.
This innovative trojan horse technique could result in more effective and durable malaria treatments. The findings also carry significant implications for the agricultural sector, as parasites can invade and decimate livestock, potentially resulting in billions of dollars in losses for farmers.
Professor Alex Maier, the lead researcher at ANU, stated that this trojan horse method is three to twenty-five times more effective at removing the parasites compared to drugs that are not linked to cholesterol.
“Cholesterol often has a poor image, but it’s a fundamental building block of life. Both humans and animals require it to live and operate effectively. Parasites have a particularly urgent need for cholesterol since they cannot produce it independently,” Professor Maier explained.
“These parasites can’t generate their own cholesterol, so they take it from their hosts and hoard it.”
Once a mosquito injects malaria parasites into the human bloodstream, the parasites eventually infiltrate red blood cells, where they elude the immune response. While malaria can be treated with medications, the parasites have adapted clever ways to resist current treatments, keeping scientists in a continuous battle.
However, the ANU team asserts that their new technique disguising drugs as cholesterol directly addresses this ongoing challenge.
“Current malaria treatments are absorbed by the parasite without active engagement, making them less efficient,” noted Professor Maier.
“By linking the drugs to cholesterol, the parasite actively seeks out and consumes this cholesterol. This process enables us to deliver the drugs directly to optimal action sites within the parasite, maximizing their destructive potential.
“This strategy allows us to revitalize existing medications that have lost their effectiveness, essentially breathing new life back into outdated drugs.
“Additionally, this research lays the groundwork for creating new, more efficient, and cost-effective medications.”
The ANU scientists also believe that this innovative drug delivery system of combining medications with cholesterol could be utilized to tackle other diseases, such as giardia, which leads to gastrointestinal issues like diarrhea.
Moreover, it may assist in addressing leishmaniasis, a debilitating disease affecting the skin, mouth, nose, and throat, which severely impacts some of the most impoverished communities worldwide. If untreated, leishmaniasis can lead to death.
Professor Maier emphasized that this research could pave the way for discovering new and more effective treatments for parasitic infections in pets and livestock, ultimately preventing billions in losses and greatly benefiting the agricultural sector, particularly in Australia.
