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Mefloquine


Mechanism of action:

Mefloquine is a quinoline methanol derivative. Mefloquine accumulates within the food vacuole of malaria parasites. Inside red blood cells, the parasite degrades hemoglobin as a source of amino acids, producing toxic free heme in the process. Under normal conditions, the parasite detoxifies heme by polymerizing it into hemozoin. Mefloquine inhibits this conversion, causing toxic heme to accumulate within the parasite and ultimately leading to parasite death.

Reference(s):

1. Nevin RL et al. (2017). A serious nightmare: psychiatric and neurologic adverse reactions to mefloquine are serious adverse reactions. Pharmacol Res Perspect. 


2. Palmer KJ et al. (1993). Mefloquine: a review of its antimalarial activity, pharmacokinetic properties and therapeutic efficacy. Drugs. 


3. Tickell-Painter M et al. (2017). Mefloquine for preventing malaria during travel to endemic areas. Cochrane Database Syst Rev.

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