Scientists from the University of Washington in Seattle have devised an innovative strategy for destroying malaria parasites using an oscillating magnetic field. If further studies confirm their findings and their application in animals and people, this would be an inexpensive and simple way to treat a disease that affects 500 million people every year, almost all in Third World countries.

Malaria parasites feed on the "globin" part of hemoglobin, the pigment found in red blood cells. But the parasites lack the enzyme necessary to break down the iron-containing heme portion of hemoglobin -- and heme is in fact toxic to them. In order to eliminate the toxic effects of free heme, malaria parasites form hemozoins -- "quasi-crystalline" arrays of heme molecules.

In their study, the researchers took advantage of the fact that these hemozoins act essentially as small bar magnets, and can be shaken apart and again rendered toxic to the parasite with a sufficient magnetic force. The investigators exposed human red blood cells infected with the malaria parasite to a magnetic field "just a little stronger than the Earth's, the difference is that it is oscillating. Exposure to the magnetic field reduced the number of parasites present in blood by between 33% and 70%.

The next step is to determine if the oscillating magnets can be safely used to treat malaria infection in animals and humans. The researcher envisions rooms or trucks lined with the magnets where patients can "sit and read" while being treated for malaria infection. He added that this strategy, if proven safe and effective, would have several important advantages: the approach is "inexpensive and simple," and it is unlikely that malaria parasites would be able to develop resistance to magnetic fields.

University of Washington March 2000