Open AccessHigh Heritability of Malaria Parasite Clearance Rate Indicates a Genetic Basis for Artemisinin Resistance in Western Cambodia
Author(s) -
Tim Anderson,
Shalini Nair,
Standwell C. Nkhoma,
Jeff T. Williams,
Mallika Imwong,
Poravuth Yi,
Duong Socheat,
Debashish Das,
Kesinee Chotivanich,
Nicholas P. J. Day,
Nicholas J. White,
Arjen M. Dondorp
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
the journal of infectious diseases (online. university of chicago press)/the journal of infectious diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.69
H-Index - 252
eISSN - 1537-6613
pISSN - 0022-1899
DOI - 10.1086/651562
Subject(s) - heritability , malaria , biology , parasite hosting , artemisinin , population , plasmodium falciparum , genetic variation , genotype , genetics , gene , immunology , medicine , environmental health , world wide web , computer science
In western Cambodia, malaria parasites clear slowly from the blood after treatment with artemisinin derivatives, but it is unclear whether this results from parasite, host, or other factors specific to this population. We measured heritability of clearance rate by evaluating patients infected with identical or nonidentical parasite genotypes, using methods analogous to human twin studies. A substantial proportion (56%-58%) of the variation in clearance rate is explained by parasite genetics. This has 2 important implications: (1) selection with artemisinin derivatives will tend to drive resistance spread and (2) because heritability is high, the genes underlying parasite clearance rate may be identified by genome-wide association.