Archive · 19 Sep 2025
New Research: Malaria Parasite's Brain Damage
Imagine tiny pipes in your brain that keep bad stuff out, called the blood-brain barrier (BBB).
Malaria is caused by a parasite that gets into your red blood cells and then tries to break into the brain.
Researchers made a model BBB to study this.
They found the parasite creates holes in the BBB, causing leaks.
This leads to brain swelling.
The study showed that the parasite causes cells to produce less sealing proteins and more inflammatory molecules.
Scientists tested a drug called Ruxolitinib in their model.
The drug helped calm the swelling and may help treat severe malaria.
Researchers studied how the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, affects the brain.
Cerebral malaria kills many children and can cause long-term disabilities.
The parasite can damage the blood-brain barrier (BBB), leading to complications.
Researchers created a lab-grown model of the BBB to study the effects.
A drug called Ruxolitinib showed potential to reduce BBB damage in the model.
- Who
- Researchers at EMBL in Barcelona, Spain
- What
- Identified how the malaria parasite damages the brain.
- When
- Findings published in journal Nature Communications
- Where
- Barcelona, Spain
- Why
- To understand how the parasite affects the brain and find potential treatments.
- Disease
- Cerebral malaria
- Cause
- Plasmodium falciparum parasite
- Location of Study
- EMBL, Barcelona, Spain
- Study Method
- Lab-grown BBB (blood-brain barrier)
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Drug Tested
- Ruxolitinib