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Artesunate plus amodiaquine combination therapy: reviewing the evidence
Author(s) -
Adjei George O.,
Kudzi William,
Dodoo Alexander,
Kurtzhals Jorgen A.L.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
drug development research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.582
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1098-2299
pISSN - 0272-4391
DOI - 10.1002/ddr.20346
Subject(s) - amodiaquine , artesunate , artemisinin , tolerability , medicine , combination therapy , malaria , regimen , pharmacology , intensive care medicine , adverse effect , chloroquine , plasmodium falciparum , immunology
The combination of artesunate plus amodiaquine (AS/AQ) is, next to the fixed‐dose combination of artemether‐lumefantrine, the most widely adopted artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) regimen being used as first‐line therapy for uncomplicated malaria by National Malaria Control Programs in sub‐Saharan Africa. In contrast to other ACT regimens in current use, on which reviews of the available evidence on safety and efficacy have been periodically published, no, or few summaries of the extensive data available on the safety and efficacy of this widely used ACT are available in the published literature. The available evidence on AS/AQ indicates high efficacy of this combination in children, variable tolerability in adults, and an interaction between artesunate and amodiaquine that could have implications for medium term efficacy or safety of the combination. In this article, a review of the available evidence on the efficacy and safety on AS/AQ, with a particular focus on parameters that could have operational significance for malaria control in endemic areas, is presented and discussed. Drug Dev Res 71: 33–43, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.