Though, malaria is deadly and have claimed millions of lives, especially in Africa, it is the brain that controls both the pain and fever aspects of the disease in human beings, a lecturer at the University of Ilorin (Unilorin), in Kwara state, Dr. Aboyeji Lukuman Oyewole, has said.
He made this known, while discussing a research work he carried out, together with two of his colleagues at the school.
The research paper titled, “Plasmodium berghei-induced malaria decreases pain sensitivity in mice,” was published by the Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research.
In a chat with this Blueprint, Oyewole explained that their major preoccupation in the research project was to investigate how the human brain responds to malaria parasites.
“The plan is to investigate the form of pain that usually accompanies malaria infection in people, and we used an animal (rodent) model to conduct the research,” he said.
The don, however, pointed out that what they observed in human beings contradicted what they observed in animals.
“Various types of pain were reported by people with plasmodium falciparum and were mostly attributed to a symptom of malarial infection. Neural processes of pain sensation during malarial infection and their contributions to malaria-related death are poorly understood,” he said.
Swiss mice used for this study were randomly divided into two groups.
“Animals in the first group (Pb-infected group) were inoculated with plasmodium berghei to induce malaria whilst the other group (intact group) was not infected. Formalin test was used to assess pain sensitivity in both groups and using various antagonists, the possible mechanism for deviation in pain sensitivity was probed.
“Also, plasma and brain samples collected from animals in both groups were subjected to biochemical and/or histological studies. The results showed that Pb-infected mice exhibited diminished pain-related behaviours to noxious chemicals.
He argued that the future is promising as far as eradicating malaria is concerned, with additional grants for them to carry out further study on their latest findings.
Said Dr. Oyewole: “The first one is that if we are able to isolate the products that are associated with this parasite that causes decreased pain perception in the mice, we may be able to process the products into analgesic drugs, which may be useful for human beings.
“Second, we can devise a method to be used for monitoring complicated malaria in hospitals to see how patients respond to treatment.
A Professor of Physiology with specialisation in Neuroscience and Neurophysiology, Bamidele Owoyele, on his part, said it is time scientists questioned the tool they use in studying the basic science of malaria effect, as it may not be translational.
Owoyele, Head of the Physiology Department at Unilorin and his research supervisor, added, “Further studies might yield important information on how malaria leads to the production of certain chemicals in mice. And the chemicals may eventually be helpful in finding cure to the pain that humans experience when they have malaria infection.”
