Summary

Plasmodium falciparum is the parasite responsible for the largest number of malaria-related deaths. The best treatments against P. falciparum are artemisinin-based combination therapies, but they are not effective against gametocytes, the parasitic stage responsible for the transmission to mosquitoes; thus, new combinations against gametocytic stages are worth exploring.

Here, we study pyronaridine and methylene blue combination due to their gametocytocidal effect in the low nanomolar range. However, drugs used in combination are usually eliminated from the circulation and therefore lose efficacy along time. To overcome these problems of conventional drug delivery, we explore liposomes for targeted combination nanotherapy; we achieve a drug loading efficacy between 80-100% and explore the effect of both drugs on the culture through growth inhibition assays, flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy.