Polymorphisms in the K13-propeller gene in artemisinin-susceptible Plasmodium falciparum parasites from Bougoula-Hameau and Bandiagara, Mali

• Published in: The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene Vol. 92; no. 6; pp. 1202 - 1206
• Main Authors: Ouattara, Amed, Kone, Aminatou, Adams, Matthew, Fofana, Bakary, Maiga, Amelia Walling, Hampton, Shay, Coulibaly, Drissa, Thera, Mahamadou A, Diallo, Nouhoum, Dara, Antoine, Sagara, Issaka, Gil, Jose Pedro, Bjorkman, Anders, Takala-Harrison, Shannon, Doumbo, Ogobara K, Plowe, Christopher V, Djimde, Abdoulaye A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 01.06.2015
• Subjects: Antimalarials - pharmacology; Artemisinins - pharmacology; Base Sequence; Blackwater Fever - drug therapy; Blackwater Fever - parasitology; Drug Resistance - genetics; Genes, Protozoan - genetics; Genotype; Humans; Mali - epidemiology; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Molecular Sequence Data; Plasmodium falciparum; Plasmodium falciparum - drug effects; Plasmodium falciparum - genetics; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide - genetics; Sequence Alignment; Mali; Cambodia; ISEW, Southeast Asia
• ISSN: 0002-9637; 1476-1645; 1476-1645
• DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.14-0605

Artemisinin-resistant Plasmodium falciparum malaria has been documented in southeast Asia and may already be spreading in that region. Molecular markers are important tools for monitoring the spread of antimalarial drug resistance. Recently, single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the PF3D7_1343700 kelch propeller (K13-propeller) domain were shown to be associated with artemisinin resistance in vivo and in vitro. The prevalence and role of K13-propeller mutations are poorly known in sub-Saharan Africa. K13-propeller mutations were genotyped by direct sequencing of nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplicons from dried blood spots of pre-treatment falciparum malaria infections collected before and after the use of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) as first-line therapy in Mali. Although K13-propeller mutations previously associated with delayed parasite clearance in Cambodia were not identified, 26 K13-propeller mutations were identified in both recent samples and pre-ACT infections. Parasite clearance time was comparable between infections with non-synonymous K13-propeller mutations and infections with the reference allele. These findings suggest that K13-propeller mutations are present in artemisinin-sensitive parasites and that they preceded the wide use of ACTs in Mali.