Novel Plasmodium vivax dhfr alleles from the Indonesian Archipelago and Papua New Guinea: association with pyrimethamine resistance determined by a Saccharomyces cerevisiae expression system.

ABSTRACT: In plasmodia, the dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) enzyme is the target of the pyrimethamine component of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (S/P). Plasmodium vivax infections are not treated intentionally with antifolates. However, outside Africa, coinfections with Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax are common, and P. vivax infections are often exposed to S/P. Cloning of the P. vivax dhfr gene has allowed molecular comparisons of dhfr alleles from different regions. Examination of the dhfr locus from a few locations has identified a very diverse set of alleles and showed that mutant alleles of the vivax dhfr gene are prevalent in Southeast Asia where S/P has been used extensively. We have surveyed patient isolates from six locations in Indonesia and two locations in Papua New Guinea. We sequenced P.

SUBMITTER: Hastings MD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC547327 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature