| Malaria is an insect-borne infectious disease caused by Plasmodium, which is endemic around the world, especially in the tropics, and it poses a serious threat to human health. Plasmodium mainly develops and reproduces in the human hosts and exhibits a complex life cycle, involving a series of processes such as the Plasmodium invasion, migration, escape of immune attack, division and proliferation in the hepatocytes, invading and multiplying in red blood cells, and periodical release, which ultimately results in periodic outbreaks of malaria symptoms in patients. This review focuses on the research progress of the exoerythrocytic and endoerythrocytic invasion and development of Plasmodium (sporozoite, merozoite) in human body, and provides references for the development of antimalarial vaccines and the prevention and treatment of malaria. |