HAEMOZOIN - IDENTIFICATION AND QUANTIFICATION

Haemozoin (malaria pigment) is a haem polymer resulting from the break down of haemoglobin by Plasmodium spp. This refractory substance has b een the focus of many studies and of much debate, mainly because of it s role in the pharmacological activity of certain antimalarials. Haemo zoin is also important because its presence in tissues serves as an in dicator of malaria infections, and may itself be a mediator of malaria pathogenesis. In this article, Amy Sullivan and Steven Meshnick revie w the structure and synthesis of haemozoin, and then focus on methods of haemozoin identification in tissue. This latter aspect has implicat ions for the study of haemozoin both as an indicator of malaria infect ion and as a possible mediator of malaria pathogenesis.