Evidence for the early emergence of piperaquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum malaria and modeling strategies to mitigate resistance.

ABSTRACT: Multidrug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum parasites have emerged in Cambodia and neighboring countries in Southeast Asia, compromising the efficacy of first-line antimalarial combinations. Dihydroartemisinin + piperaquine (PPQ) treatment failure rates have risen to as high as 50% in some areas in this region. For PPQ, resistance is driven primarily by a series of mutant alleles of the P. falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter (PfCRT). PPQ resistance was reported in China three decades earlier, but the molecular driver remained unknown. Herein, we identify a PPQ-resistant pfcrt allele (China C) from Yunnan Province, China, whose genotypic lineage is distinct from the PPQ-resistant pfcrt alleles currently observed in Cambodia. Combining gene editing and competitive growth assays, we r

SUBMITTER: Small-Saunders JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8853508 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature