To identify new leads for the treatment of Plasmodium falciparum malaria, we screened a panel of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine [5HT]) receptor agonists and antagonists and determined their effects on parasite growth. The 5HT1A receptor agonists 8-hydroxy-N-(di-n-propyl)-aminotetralin (8-OH-DPAT), 2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine, and 2,5-dimethoxy-4-bromophenylethylamine inhibited the growth of P. falciparum in vitro (50% inhibitory concentrations, 0.4, 0.7, and 1.5 M, respectively). In further characterizing the antiparasitic effects of 8-OH-DPAT, we found that this serotonin receptor agonist did not affect the growth of Leishmania infantum, Trypanosoma cruzi, Trypanosoma brucei brucei, or Trichostrongylus colubriformis in vitro and did not demonstrate cytotoxicity against the human lung fibroblast cell line MRC-5. 8-OH-DPAT had similar levels of growth inhibition against several different P. falciparum isolates having distinct chemotherapeutic resistance phenotypes, and its antimalarial effect was additive when it was used in combination with chloroquine against a chloroquine-resistant isolate. In a patch clamp assay, 8-OH-DPAT blocked a P. falciparum surface membrane channel, suggesting that serotonin receptor agonists are a novel class of antimalarials that target a nutrient transport pathway. Since there may be neurological involvement with the use of 8-OH-DPAT and other serotonin receptor agonists in the treatment of falciparum malaria, new lead compounds derived from 8-OH-DPAT will need to be modified to prevent potential neurological side effects. Nevertheless, these results suggest that 8-OH-DPAT is a new lead compound with which to derive novel antimalarial agents and is a useful tool with which to characterize P. falciparum membrane channels.Discovery of drugs for the treatment of malaria is essential because of the widespread resistance of Plasmodium falciparum to chloroquine and other drugs. Drug resistance contributes importantly to the 1 to 2 million deaths caused by malaria every year (25, 37). Natural products from traditional medicinal plants have formed the basis of new synthetic antimalarial analogues with potent activity, and numerous other lead compounds have been identified, including alkaloids, quinones, terpenes, and flavonoids (17,26). During the screening of plant extracts used in traditional Polynesian medicine and other natural products for antiviral and antimicrobial activity (19), we found that some serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine [5HT]) receptor agonists have antimalarial properties. The activity of these agonists was accompanied by the blocking of a membrane channel on parasitized erythrocytes. Serotonin agonists may therefore be useful for the characterization of the membrane transport properties of the malaria parasite and may provide new lead candidates for the treatment of malaria.
MATERIALS AND METHODSGrowth inhibition assays. The P. falciparum isolates used were Uganda-Palo Alto (FUP; mefloquine resistant) (10), Falciparum Vietnam Oak Knoll (FVO; chloroquine resistant) (29),...