Triclosan: a shot in the arm for antimalarial chemotherapy.

In order that malaria be successfully contained, it is important that one has a clear understanding of the normal physiology and biochemistry of the parasite essential to its survival in its human host. Until very recently, the conventional approaches to antimalarial chemotherapy have consistently been plagued with the uncanny ability of the parasite to evolve resistance to drugs. The recently discovered plasmodial fatty acid biosynthetic pathway as well as its inhibition by triclosan that classifies it as belonging to type II, provide with a very crucial breakthrough to the crusade against malaria. How triclosan could tilt the balance in favor of the human hosts of the malarial parasite in a malarial condition is discussed.