An international team has found a
genetic marker for the malaria-causing
parasites that are resistant to
artemisinin, an important drug for
treating the mosquito-borne disease.
Among the researchers, who report their
findings in a recent online issue of Nature ,
is a team from the National Institute of
Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID),
part of the US National Institutes of Health.
The World Health Organization (WHO)
estimates that 627,000 people died of
malaria in 2012.
Artemisinin, combined with other drugs, is
an important first line of defense against
malaria. However, in recent years,
development of artemisinin resistance in
the malaria parasite Plasmodium
falciparum in southeast Asia poses a real
threat to global malaria control and
elimination.
Thus, researchers are racing to find ways to
keep the drug's effectiveness. One
important factor in the race is keeping track
of the spread of artemisinin resistance.
Mutant K 13- propeller gene
For their study, the team sequenced the
genetic information of a lab-generated
strain of artemisinin-resistant P.
falciparum , and also of two natural strains
found in the wild in Cambodia - one drug-
resistant and the other not. By comparing
the genetic information from these three
strains, they hoped to pinpoint the genetic
marker of drug resistance.
And so they did. They found that P.
falciparum carrying a mutant version of
the K13-propeller gene was more likely
to survive exposure to artemisinin in the
lab.
Plus they found, in malaria patients treated
with artemisinin, parasites carrying this
particular genetic mutation took longer to
eliminate.
And when they analyzed the geographical
distribution of the K13-propeller mutated
gene in parasites in western Cambodia,
they found it matched the distribution of
resistance among malaria patients in the
same regions.
Taking these results together, the team
concludes that the mutant K13-propeller
gene is closely tied to artemisinin
resistance and is likely to be a good
molecular marker for it.
They say further research is now needed to
find out how this mutation causes
resistance and the extent to which it affects
other geographical areas.
In another study reported earlier this year
in the The Lancet Infectious Diseases ,
another group of scientists describe how
they developed a rapid, simple way of
testing for artemisinin resistance in a lethal
form of malaria.
Written by Catharine Paddock PhD
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without the
permission of Me

Coartem has lost its efficacy. P-alaxin is now a better substitute. However visiting a qualified doctor and running a malaria test still remains the best option to consider when ill instead of self-medication.

@ op, nice piece of information.

It's still an artemisinin derived drugs. There are other malaria drugs.

Nigerians av this issue with drugs, they overuse a drug and it becomes resistant. smh