Plasmodium asexual blood-stage parasite (ABS) (ABS)

The Plasmodium asexual blood-stage parasite is the developmental phase of the malaria parasite that resides within host red blood cells and is exclusively responsible for the clinical manifestations of malaria (Cowman et al., 2016, Cell). This stage begins when merozoites, released from the liver, invade erythrocytes and undergo a cycle of maturation from rings to trophozoites and finally to multinucleated schizonts (White, 2004, J Clin Invest). The rupture of these schizonts releases new merozoites, triggering the paroxysmal fevers characteristic of the disease. As the primary target for antimalarial therapy, drugs are designed to disrupt vital processes such as the degradation of host hemoglobin and the subsequent detoxification of heme into hemozoin (Blasco et al., 2017, Nat Med). Effective clearance of this stage is critical for patient recovery, though the increasing prevalence of resistance to frontline treatments like artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) poses a significant threat to global malaria control efforts (Haldar et al., 2018, Nat Rev Microbiol).

Other names

Erythrocytic stage PlasmodiumBlood-stage malaria parasiteIntraerythrocytic Plasmodium

Inhibition of heme detoxification, induction of oxidative stress, inhibition of dihydrofolate reductase, and inhibition of mitochondrial electron transport (Blasco et al., 2017, Nat Med; White, 2004, J Clin Invest).