World News – FI – Mutations in the malaria parasite promote resistance

Washington [USA], 1 January (ANI): In the ongoing arms race between humans and the parasite that causes malaria, researchers report that new mutations that increase resistance to a drug used to prevent malaria in pregnant women and children are emerging in countries battling the disease. are already common

The new results were published in PLOS Genetics and found by Taane Clark and colleagues at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)

Malaria causes around 435 each year000 deaths, mostly of young children, in sub-Saharan Africa Despite a long-term global response, efforts to control the disease are being hampered by the rise of drug-resistant strains of the parasite species that cause malaria

For example, sulfadoxine pyrimethamine (SP) used to be a first-line treatment for malaria, but is now mainly used to prevent infections in pregnant women and children

Mutations in two genes of the parasite Plasmodium falciparum provide resistance to SP, but recently mutations related to resistance in a third gene, pfgch1, have been discovered

To understand the extent and distribution of these new mutations, Clark and colleagues analyzed genomic sequences from 4134 blood samples from 29 countries where malaria is endemic

They discovered at least ten different versions of pfgch1 found in about a quarter of the samples from Southeast Asia and a third of the samples from Africa, where strains carrying the mutations may be on the rise

The growth in the number of malaria parasites with pfgch1 mutations is of concern as the mutations can increase resistance to SP and encourage the development of new resistant strains

As a result, their growth may jeopardize efforts to use SP to prevent malaria in vulnerable groups, but with the identification of these pfgch1 mutations by the new study, scientists can monitor their presence in parasite populations to understand where SP are being used effectively can and where the resistance rates are already too high

“SP is a well-established drug for the prevention and treatment of malaria in vulnerable groups such as pregnant women and children We may have underestimated susceptibility to parasite resistance, as these new data show,” said Colin Sutherland, author and co-director of LSHTM Malaria Center (ANI)

Washington [USA], 1 January (ANI): In the ongoing arms race between humans and the parasite that causes malaria, researchers report that new mutations already exist that are increasing resistance to a drug used to prevent malaria in pregnant women and children, often in countries that are against fight the disease

The new results were published in PLOS Genetics and found by Taane Clark and colleagues at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)

Malaria causes around 435 each year000 deaths, mostly of young children, in sub-Saharan Africa Despite a long-term global response, efforts to control the disease are being hampered by the rise of drug-resistant strains of the parasite species that cause malaria

For example, sulfadoxine pyrimethamine (SP) used to be a first-line treatment for malaria, but is now mainly used to prevent infections in pregnant women and children

Mutations in two genes of the parasite Plasmodium falciparum provide resistance to SP, but recently mutations related to resistance in a third gene, pfgch1, have been discovered

To understand the extent and distribution of these new mutations, Clark and colleagues analyzed genomic sequences from 4134 blood samples from 29 countries where malaria is endemic

They discovered at least ten different versions of pfgch1 found in about a quarter of the samples from Southeast Asia and a third of the samples from Africa, where strains carrying the mutations may be on the rise

The growth in the number of malaria parasites with pfgch1 mutations is of concern as the mutations can increase resistance to SP and encourage the development of new resistant strains

As a result, their growth may jeopardize efforts to use SP to prevent malaria in vulnerable groups, but with the identification of these pfgch1 mutations by the new study, scientists can monitor their presence in parasite populations to understand where SP are being used effectively can and where the resistance rates are already too high

“SP is a well-established drug for the prevention and treatment of malaria in vulnerable groups such as pregnant women and children We may have underestimated susceptibility to parasite resistance, as these new data show,” said Colin Sutherland, author and co-director of LSHTM Malaria Center (ANI)

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