The effects of artemisinin treatment on malarial parasites and the human side of treatment

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of artemisinin treatment on the malaria side and the human side in the Kingdom of Thailand. Specifically, on the malaria side, gene analysis of the K13 promoter region, which is said to induce resistance by artemicinin treatment, and on the human side, genes involved in the metabolism and shape of erythrocytes (G6PD gene, thalassemia gene, hemoglobin abnormality) It is to clarify the genetic correlation of how genes such as genes) and genes involved in drug metabolism (genes related to cytochrome P450) affect artemicinin treatment. In the first year of Reiwa, the emphasis was on collecting a sample of patients who were infected with P. falciparum in the Kingdom of Thailand and received artemisinin combination therapy (ART). However, due to the drastic decrease in the number of patients infected with P. falciparum in the Kingdom of Thailand, it was very difficult to collect a sample of only patients who received artemisinin combination therapy. Therefore, in parallel with the collection of samples of patients who received artemisinin treatment, samples of patients who received treatment with other antimalarial drugs (QUININE) were collected and treated with artemisinin and other antimalarial drugs. By comparing the patients, we decided to clarify the purpose of this study. So far, a total of 371 samples have been collected with clinical data. After that, the DNA of the sample is extracted, and the target region is being amplified by the PCR method in order to perform sequence analysis of the multi-drug resistance gene (pfmdr1, pfcrt) in addition to the K13 promoter region gene on the malaria side. Similarly, for the target gene on the human side, after amplifying the target gene using the PCR method, mutation is confirmed using the RFLP method or the sequence analysis method.

Project details

Drug Resistance
Drug-based Strategies

Apr 2019 — Mar 2021

$39,730

Thailand