Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25150147›Full record

ArticleThe Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy2015

Methylene blue inhibits the asexual development of vivax malaria parasites from a region of increasing chloroquine resistance.

Rossarin Suwanarusk, Bruce Russell, Alice Ong, Kanlaya Sriprawat, Cindy S Chu, Aung PyaePhyo, Benoit Malleret, François Nosten, Laurent Renia

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
13citing papers in PubMed
5.1field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

13 citing papers in PubMed, 25 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Ethanolic Leaf Extract ofTropical medicine and infectious disease · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. The activity of methylene blue against asexual and sexual stages ofFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2023
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Phenothiazinium Dyes Are Active againstBioMed research international · 2019
    Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.

Rossarin SuwanaruskSingapore Immunology Network (SIgN), Agency for Science Technology and Research, Biopolis, Singapore.
Bruce RussellDepartment of Microbiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, National University Health System, Singapore.
Alice OngSingapore Immunology Network (SIgN), Agency for Science Technology and Research, Biopolis, Singapore.
Kanlaya SriprawatShoklo Malaria Research Unit, Mae Sot, Tak Province, Thailand.
Cindy S ChuShoklo Malaria Research Unit, Mae Sot, Tak Province, Thailand.
Aung PyaePhyoShoklo Malaria Research Unit, Mae Sot, Tak Province, Thailand.
Benoit MalleretSingapore Immunology Network (SIgN), Agency for Science Technology and Research, Biopolis, Singapore Department of Microbiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, National University Health System, Singapore.
François NostenShoklo Malaria Research Unit, Mae Sot, Tak Province, Thailand Mahidol-Oxford University Research Unit, Bangkok, Thailand Centre for Tropical Medicine, University of Oxford, Churchill Hospital, Oxford, UK.
Laurent ReniaSingapore Immunology Network (SIgN), Agency for Science Technology and Research, Biopolis, Singapore renia_laurent@immunol.a-star.edu.sg.
Shoklo Malaria Research Unit · THAgency for Science, Technology and Research · SGSingapore Immunology Network · SGMahidol University · THNational University Health System · SG

Funding

Wellcome Trust
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesMethylene blue, once discarded due to its unsettling yet mild side effects, has now found a renewed place in the pharmacopoeia of modern medicine. The continued spread of drug-resistant Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum has also led to a recent re-examination of methylene blue's potent antimalarial properties. Here we examine the ex vivo susceptibility profile of Plasmodium spp. isolates to methylene blue; the isolates were from a region on the Thai-Myanmar border where there are increasing rates of failure when treating vivax malaria with chloroquine.

methodsTo do this we used a newly developed ex vivo susceptibility assay utilizing flow cytometry and a portable flow cytometer with a near-UV laser.

resultsP. vivax (median methylene blue IC50 3.1 nM, IQR 1.7-4.3 nM) and P. falciparum (median methylene blue IC50 1.8 nM, IQR 1.6-2.3 nM) are susceptible to methylene blue treatment at physiologically relevant levels. Unfortunately, the addition of chloroquine to combination treatments with methylene blue significantly reduces the ex vivo effectiveness of this molecule.

conclusionsOur data support further efforts to employ methylene blue as a safe, low-cost antimalarial to treat drug-resistant malaria.

Indexed as

Drug ResistanceAntimalarialsCell SurvivalChloroquineFlow CytometryHumansInhibitory Concentration 50Laser Scanning CytometryMalaria, VivaxMethylene BlueMyanmarParasitic Sensitivity TestsPlasmodium vivaxThailandAntimalarialsChloroquineMethylene Bluedrug sensitivity assaysdrug susceptibility assaysPlasmodium falciparumPlasmodium vivax

Identifiers

PMID25150147
PMCPMC4267499
OpenAlexW2088575843

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.