In vitro activity of quinolines against Plasmodium falciparum in Gabon

Acta Trop. 2004 Mar;90(1):55-60. doi: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2003.11.001.

Abstract

The assessment of drug sensitivity of Plasmodium falciparum to antimalarial drugs is of vital interest for malaria endemic regions. We conducted a follow-up study to monitor the in vitro activity of the most commonly used quinolines against fresh P. falciparum isolates in Lambaréné, Gabon by measuring schizont maturation inhibition in 2002. Mean 50% effective concentration levels for chloroquine, quinine, and mefloquine were 5.5micromol/l blood, 286nmol/l blood medium mixture (BMM), and 1.1micromol/l blood, respectively. All isolates (n=40) were found to be highly resistant to chloroquine. One isolate was resistant to mefloquine and five isolates were presenting borderline-resistance. All isolates were inhibited by quinine concentrations below the threshold of resistance (n=43). Besides the observation of an increasing number of borderline resistant isolates to mefloquine, an extremly high parasite resistance to chloroquine-still officially the first line antimalarial in Gabon-seems to be of particular concern.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Animals
  • Antimalarials / pharmacology*
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Drug Resistance
  • Female
  • Gabon
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Malaria, Falciparum / drug therapy
  • Male
  • Plasmodium falciparum / drug effects*
  • Plasmodium falciparum / isolation & purification
  • Quinolines / pharmacology*

Substances

  • Antimalarials
  • Quinolines