Introduction

The research will be focused on how progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) can be cured by antimalarial drugs such as Mefloquine and if it can help treat and cure the PML. The disease is a rare brain infection that affects the substance that protects the nerve cells of the brain with a number of symptoms such as difficulty in speaking, weakness, and clumsiness. It is caused by the JC virus which can be controlled by antimalarial drugs (medlineplus, 2021 ). The research will look at various treatments and cure related to the antimalarial drug mefloquine and find if it is possible to treat the disease by antimalarial drug mefloquine. The research will be conduct by reviewing various peer literature and analyzing their research in concluding the results. The literature will be selected based on the relevancy impartiality and effective nature of the research. The research is based on the qualitative research approach in finding. Through this approach, the research will find if there are possible treatments for progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) using the antimalarial drug mefloquine.

Background Information

The progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is a brain infection disease caused by the lytic JC virus infection which affects the astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. The JC virus is harmless and commonly found in the majority of people but can affect people with low immunity systems. It is a rare disease that mostly occurs in people who undergo therapy for an organ transplant, corticosteroid, and patients with cancer (D’Alessandro, Scaccabarozzi, & Signorini, 2020). Since the due to the usage of medicine that suppresses the immune system used during organ transplant and autoimmune disorders which makes them weak against the JC virus. It is most common among people with HIV-1 infection or AIDS. According to studies, almost 5 percent of people with HIV-1 are developing PML eventually. The multifocal leukoencephalopathy patient dies in about 2 to 3 years whereas the use of drugs that help enhance the immune system could help the patient to survive till 10 to 15 years (ninds, 2019).

The symptom of PML is diverse as they are determined by the damage to the brains and related to which area has been damaged and become visible in the course of weeks to months. The most common symptom of the disease is visual speech, clumsiness, progressive weakness and could also cause some personality changes. With the progress of the disease, it could also cause dementia and makes people unable to speak. The patient with aids who develop PML could also face headaches and seizures (Pavlovic, Patera, Nyberg, & Gerber, 2015). The mortality rates of PML are about 30 to 50 percent for the first few months but it also depends on the severity of the disease while the people who survive from PML are mostly left with some neurological disabilities. As there is no cure for PML and the survival rate of the patient is about 10 to 50 percent for a time span of one year. The only way to treat the PML infection is to increase your immune systems by taking drugs that attack the virus and avoid taking any drug which weakens the immunity system of the patient. The drugs such as the antimalarial drug mefloquine could prove to be an effective agent in the treatment of PML (Clifford, Nath, Cinque, & Brew, 2013).

Aim

The objective of the research is to find any treatment or cure present for progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy using antimalarial drug mefloquine. The research will be aimed at finding the impacts of PML in understanding the disease and find how the antimalarial drug such as mefloquine could prove useful in the treatment of the disease. The research will be found different methods through which mefloquine can prevent PML. This will be done by looking at various treatment methods for PML and finding the role of mefloquine in those treatment methods. The research will also find any side effects or reactions of mefloquine in the treatment of the PML and also focus on finding how the medicine can help promote the treatment and help maintain the health of the patients. The impact of the mefloquine will be assessed in curing the disease by reviewing various peer research articles through a qualitative research approach. The research aims to find if the antimalarial drug mefloquine can help in stopping the JC virus from spreading or if it can help in increasing the immune system of the patient which might help them in resisting the JC virus from spreading.