Pfatp6 molecular profile of Plasmodium falciparum isolates in the western Brazilian Amazon

• Published in: Malaria Journal
• Main Authors: Brasil Larissa W, Areas André LL, Melo Gisely C, Oliveira Cintia MC, C Alecrim Maria G, G Lacerda Marcus V, O'Brien Connor, Oelemann Walter MR, Zalis Mariano G
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2012
• Subjects: Malaria; Plasmodium falciparum; Artemisinin; Molecular marker; pfatp6; Polymorphisms; Amazon; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Infectious and parasitic diseases; RC109-216; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-11-111; https://doaj.org/article/24ac14588a204cc8ae85b70a1771f8b8

Abstract Background Anti-malarial drug resistance has emerged as one of the biggest challenges confronting the worldwide effort to control malaria. The appearance of chloroquine and multi-drug resistance had devastating effects on therapeutic efficacy of former first-line agents. Artemisinin has proven to be an excellent therapeutic alternative to fill the void in chemotherapeutic options left by resistance mechanisms. At the time of introduction, no resistance to artemisinins had been recorded, and artemisinins demonstrated excellent parasite reduction rates. In an attempt to protect artemisinin efficacy, the World Health Organization (WHO) made artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) its official first-line treatment recommendation for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum in 2006. In Brazil, artemether/lumefantrine became the Brazilian Malaria Control Programme's official treatment recommendation in 2007. The sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca 2+ - ATPase ortholog of P. falciparum ( pfatp 6) has been suggested as one of the targets of artemisinins. Consequently, pfatp 6 gene polymorphisms are being investigated as markers of artemisinin resistance elsewhere. The goal of this work was to describe the molecular profile of pfatp 6 in P. falciparum isolates from different localities in the Amazonas State. Methods DNA polymorphisms of the pfatp6 gene in 80 P. falciparum isolates from 11 municipalities of the Amazonas State (Western Brazilian Amazon), before and after the introduction of ACT in the Brazilian anti-malarial guidelines, were analysed by automatic sequencing. Mutations in the pfatp6 gene were searched using Mutation Surveyor v3.25 software. Results The P. falciparum pfatp6 gene presented polymorphisms at codons 37, 630 and 898. The R37K mutation was found in 16% of the samples, A630S in 32% and I898I in 52%. No S769N mutation, however, was detected in the analysed samples. Conclusion Despite the small number of samples, data presented here provide baseline information about polymorphisms of pfatp6 gene ...