Publication: Assessment of alpha-pinene on digestive vacuole pH in plasmodium falciparum
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Date
2026-01
Authors
Yu, Pua Cai
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Abstract
Malaria remains a life-threatening mosquito-borne infectious disease and continues to pose a major global health challenge, predominantly caused by Plasmodium falciparum and transmitted by Anopheles mosquitoes. The emergence of resistance to commonly used antimalarial drugs, including chloroquine and artemisinin, has reduced treatment efficacy. This highlights the need for alternative antimalarial compounds with novel targets. Alpha-pinene has been reported to exhibit antimalarial activity; however, its effect on the digestive vacuole (DV) of P. falciparum has not been fully characterized. The DV is an acidic organelle essential for haemoglobin degradation and haem detoxification, processes that are critical for parasite survival. Disruption of DV pH homeostasis represents an important target for antimalarial intervention. In this study, the antimalarial activity of α-pinene was evaluated against the chloroquine-sensitive P. falciparum 3D7 strain. The half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) was determined at the ring stage using the Giemsa-stained thin blood smear method. α-Pinene demonstrated an IC50 value of 6.908 μM, indicating effective inhibition of parasite growth. The effect of α-pinene on DV pH was further assessed in the mature-stage parasite using flow cytometry following labelling with FITC-dextran as a pH-sensitive fluorescent probe. A concentration-dependent alkalisation of the DV pH was observed following treatment. The observed DV pH disruption suggests that α-pinene may interfere with DV acidification, potentially involving inhibition of the V-type H+-ATPase. The findings of this study demonstrate that α-pinene exhibits antimalarial activity and disrupts DV pH homeostasis in P. falciparum. These results support the potential of α-pinene as a promising candidate for further investigation in antimalarial drug development.