A Brief History of Plasmodium

Today scientists know malaria as one of the oldest diseases in the world, making plasmodium one of the most significant organisms in the world. Its symptoms were first describe by the ancient Chinese, and not long after the ancient Greeks recognized the disease as well. In fact, the ancient Chinese even prescribed a herb for treating it symptoms, so effective that it continues to be used today as an antimalarial drug. Soon after, the Spanish discovered that a bark of a tree, today called quinine, was also an effective remedy, and to this day continues to be an extremely potent antimalarial drug.

Although the symptoms of malaria were known, it was not known until 1880 what caused it. A French doctor, Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran noticed parasites in a blood smear of a patient who had just died of malaria. For this discovery, Laveran was awarded the 1907 Nobel Prize in Medicine. Similarly, Italian scientist Camillo Golgi, famous for discovering the Golgi apparatus, studied the cycles of plasmodium in 1886 and deduced that since there were different cycles, there must have been different species of plasmodium, namely Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium malariae. Golgi was awarded the 1906 Nobel Prize in Medicine, for his works with Plasmodium and other biology related discoveries.

Malaria continued to ravage nations and people throughout the 20^th century. Although malaria has been effectively eradicated from the developed world, poor countries have not had great strides in removing it from society. There is hope however. New medication is constantly coming out to counter the constantly adapting plasmodium. We also have the means to study the DNA makeup of plasmodium today, allowing us to see exactly why plasmodium infects people, and may play a key role in eradicating it from society.

Only time will tell of what happens to malaria and plasmodium. Maybe someday in the near future they will both disappear.

Life Cycle and Reproduction

The life cycle of malaria

Plasmodium has a complex life cycle that mostly alternates between human and mosquito. The mosquito first injects the human with plasmodium sporozoites in the human with its salivary glands. The sporozoites are motile, and then move to tissue on the liver called hepatocytes. In the liver the sporozoites transform into schizonts can divide into daughter cells called merozoites. Merozoites infect the red blood cell, which turn into trophozoites, which obtain nutrients from the host. Some trophozoites in the blood cells develop merozoites again, while others turn into gametocytes, which mosquitoes can bring with them when mosquitoes bite humans. Inside the mosquito, the gametocytes turn into plasmodium again, and the whole cycle simply repeats over and over again.

Relationship with Humans

Plasmodium has a parasitic relationship with humans, meaning that while the parasite will benefit from the host, the host will have no benefit from the parasite. A mosquito vector is responsible for transferring the protist into humans. In the case of plasmodium, the host gets malaria, a serious problem in many countries that kill almost 1 million people per year where it is endemic. Infection in humans firsts starts in the liver, and then moves on to the red blood cells. Signs of malaria include fever, chills, coma, convulsions, and headache. In most severe cases, usually infection by the species P. falciparum, the host dies.

Today we do have measures to prevent malaria. Something as simple as bug spray and a mosquito net can prevent malaria. Today we also have anti-malarial medication that can treat most symptoms, but unfortunately many still die because they do not have access to this medication.

Habitat

Fortunately, we here in Canada are free of mosquitoes that carry plasmodium. Unfortunately, it is endemic in many other parts of the world. Mosquitoes thrive in hotter tropical regions, such as Africa, Central and South America, and large parts of Asia.

An Introduction

Plasmodium is the genus name of a group of parasitic protists. If infected by plasmodium, you get what is called malaria. Malaria infects red blood cells in humans, which can lead to fever, chills, and in extreme cases, death. There are 5 species which are known to cause malaria: P. vivax, P. ovale, P. falciparum, P. malariae, and P. knowlesi. Although infection by five microscopic species may not seem like a lot, malaria is still responsible for nearly 1 million deaths every year.

 

                                                    P. falciparum in blood cells