Host-directed therapy, an untapped opportunity for antimalarial intervention

• Published in: Cell reports. Medicine 2021-10, Vol.2 (10), p.100423-100423, Article 100423
• Main Authors: Wei, Ling, Adderley, Jack, Leroy, Didier, Drewry, David H., Wilson, Danny W., Kaushansky, Alexis, Doerig, Christian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: antimalarial drug discovery; Antimalarials - therapeutic use; Drug Repositioning; Host-directed therapy; Humans; malaria; Malaria - drug therapy
• ISSN: 2666-3791; 2666-3791
• DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2021.100423

Host-directed therapy (HDT) is gaining traction as a strategy to combat infectious diseases caused by viruses and intracellular bacteria, but its implementation in the context of parasitic diseases has received less attention. Here, we provide a brief overview of this field and advocate HDT as a promising strategy for antimalarial intervention based on untapped targets. HDT provides a basis from which repurposed drugs could be rapidly deployed and is likely to strongly limit the emergence of resistance. This strategy can be applied to any intracellular pathogen and is particularly well placed in situations in which rapid identification of treatments is needed, such as emerging infections and pandemics, as starkly illustrated by the current COVID-19 crisis. [Display omitted] Drug resistance threatens to reverse progress achieved in malaria control. Host-directed therapy (HDT) provides a barrier to drug resistance: since the target is not under the genetic control of the parasite, resistance-conferring mutations in the target cannot be selected under treatment. Wei et al. review opportunities for HDT in the fight against malaria.