Antimalarial drug resistance profiling of Plasmodium falciparum infections in Ghana using molecular inversion probes and next generation sequencing.

Antimalarial drug resistance profiling of Plasmodium falciparum infections in Ghana using molecular inversion probes and next generation sequencing. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2020 Jan 13;: Authors: Mensah BA, Aydemir O, Myers-Hansen JL, Opoku M, Hathaway NJ, Marsh PW, Anto F, Bailey J, Abuaku B, Ghansah A Abstract A key drawback to monitoring the emergence and spread of antimalarial drug resistance in sub-Saharan Africa is early detection and containment. Next-generation sequencing methods offer the resolution, sensitivity and scale required to fill this gap by surveilling for molecular markers of drug resistance. We performed targeted sequencing using molecular inversion probes to interrogate five Plasmodium falciparum genes (pfcrt, pfmdr1, pfdhps, pfdhfr and pfk13) implicated in chloroquine, sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) and artemisinin resistance, in two sites in Ghana. A total of 803 dried blood spots were prepared on filter-paper, from children aged between 6 months-14 years presenting with uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria at the Begoro district hospital in Begoro and the Ewim polyclinic in Cape Coast from 2014 to 2017. Thirteen years after the removal of drug pressure, chloroquine sensitive parasite strains, pfcrt K76 have increased nearly to fixation in Begoro in the forest area (prevalence = 95%), but at a slower rate in Cape Coast in the coastal region (prevalence = 71%, z=-3.5, P<0.001). In addition, pfmdr1184F b...
Source: Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy - Category: Microbiology Authors: Tags: Antimicrob Agents Chemother Source Type: research