Development of tools and electronic test for identification of chloroquine resistance in plasmodium vivax

The use of antimalarial drugs, added to the use of vector control actions, is of fundamental importance for the control of malaria. However, the resistance of Plasmodium vivax to chloroquine (CQ) has become an obstacle to control strategies based on the use of antimalarials. In 2014, Melo et al. Observed a relationship between overexpression of the pvcrt-o and pvmdr-1 genes with the development of chloroquine resistance. This feature can be used as a marker of resistance to this antimalarial, but the lack of tools and tests that facilitate the detection of this overexpression limit this approach to scientific research and little laboratory routine.

The RNA samples obtained from patients with P. vivax will be collected at the Heitor Vieira Ouro / AM Tropical Medicine Foundation, where the resistance to chloroquine in Plasmodium vivax strains will be diagnosed. These will be placed in contact with DNA probes immobilized on electrochemical sensors, which will be able to bind to the target mRNA. A biotin-linked detection probe will be used for development with strepavidin bound to alkaline phosphatase, followed by electrical measurement, quantitatively determining the overexpression of the cited genes. The development of this method may reduce the patient’s response time on the resistance of the infecting strain to chloroquine from 42 days to only a few hours. This work will be carried out through a collaboration between FIOCRUZ, SENAI, FMTHVD / AM and UFAM.

Drug Resistance
P. vivax

Jun 2017 — May 2020

Brazil