London, Sep 2 (IANS) New findings on the activities of the malaria parasite could enable the development of vaccines and therapies to combat severe forms of the disease, say scientists.

The most severe form of malaria hits pregnant women and children the hardest. A joint study between Karolinska Institutet (KI) in Sweden and Makerere University in Uganda has produced important findings on how the parasite conceals itself in the placenta of pregnant women, reported science portal News Medical.

Plasmodium falciparium is the most virulent of the four malaria parasites that infect human beings. It is particularly dangerous as it infects the placenta of pregnant women, with fatal consequences for both the mother and child.

This, combined with the often feeble medical resources of malaria-stricken countries, can lead to such serous complications that the mother dies during delivery.

Earlier studies have suggested that each protein from the parasite attaches to only one specific protein, a receptor, in the placenta.

Researchers, however, suspected that the natural mechanisms are more complex than laboratory studies have shown. They therefore collected and analysed placentas on site in Uganda.

"Most of the parasites we studied could bind to three different receptors in the placenta," said Niloofar Rasti, one of the researchers and a KI graduate student.

"This would mean that a future vaccine cannot be based on the principle of one protein-one receptor, as was previously believed," she added.

Now that scientists know several placental receptors are involved in the binding mechanism, attention will be shifted to the parasite itself, and whether it produces many different surface proteins or if one and the same protein is able to bind to many host receptors.