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Responses of multidrug‐resistant Plasmodium falciparum parasites to mefloquine in Nigerian children
Author(s) -
Okoyeh J. N.,
LegeOguntoye L.,
Ugbode R. O.,
Ogunrinde G. O.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
tropical medicine and international health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.056
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1365-3156
pISSN - 1360-2276
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3156.1997.tb00146.x
Subject(s) - mefloquine , plasmodium falciparum , parasite hosting , malaria , biology , in vitro , ec50 , pharmacology , medicine , virology , immunology , biochemistry , world wide web , computer science
Summary Thirty‐three children aged 6 months to 7 years from an area with multidrug‐resistant Plasmodium falciparum strains were treated with 25 mg/kg body weight of mefloquine base as a single oral dose. They were followed‐up using the modified 28‐day WHO extended field test. The parasite isolates from these patients were cultured in vitro with different concentrations of mefloquine. All children were parasite‐negative by day 4, and 31 remained so throughout the period of observation. Two patients who were parasitaemic on days 16 and 28 were successfully treated with a sulphadoxine/pyrimethamine combination. Parasitological and clinical responses were well correlated. The mean parasite clearance time was 65 ± 10.2 hours. A mefloquine concentration of 64 pmol/well inhibited schizont growth and the EC 50 and EC 99 were 5.5 and 54 pmol/well (1.1 and 10.8 μmol/l blood) respectively. This indicates reduced parasite susceptibility to the drug in vitro .