International Journal for Parasitology: Drugs and Drug Resistance (Aug 2017)

Genetic diversity of next generation antimalarial targets: A baseline for drug resistance surveillance programmes

  • Ana Rita Gomes,
  • Matt Ravenhall,
  • Ernest Diez Benavente,
  • Arthur Talman,
  • Colin Sutherland,
  • Cally Roper,
  • Taane G. Clark,
  • Susana Campino

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 2
pp. 174 – 180

Abstract

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Drug resistance is a recurrent problem in the fight against malaria. Genetic and epidemiological surveillance of antimalarial resistant parasite alleles is crucial to guide drug therapies and clinical management. New antimalarial compounds are currently at various stages of clinical trials and regulatory evaluation. Using ∼2000 Plasmodium falciparum genome sequences, we investigated the genetic diversity of eleven gene-targets of promising antimalarial compounds and assessed their potential efficiency across malaria endemic regions. We determined if the loci are under selection prior to the introduction of new drugs and established a baseline of genetic variance, including potential resistant alleles, for future surveillance programmes. Keywords: Antimalarial drugs, Drug-resistant mutations, Gene targets, Genetic diversity