BIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND DRUG RESISTANCE PROFILE OF P.FALCIPARUM

Abstract

Abstract Malaria remains an important public health problem. Malaria is a vector-borne infectious disease transmitted by the Anopheline mosquito. Plasmodium is the etiological agent of malaria. Although the emergence of drug-resistant parasites has been reported from time to time, the biological characteristics and drug sensitivity profile of parasites remain unclear. We studied the biological characteristics and drug sensitivity profile of P. falciparum in vitro. Parasites showed a statistically significant sensitivity difference (P<0.05). The 3D7 strain was sensitive to chloroquine, whereas the Dd2, MKT1116, ARS-272 and ARS-233 strains were resistant to chloroquine (IC50>100nM).The MKK183 isolate showed resistance to chloroquine (IC50>100nM) and mefloquine (IC50>30nM), whereas the FVT201 isolate showed resistance to mefloquine (IC50>30nM). All of the parasites were sensitive to lumefantrine (IC50<150nM) and artesunate (IC50<10nM). The11-hour-old and 16-hour-old ring stage parasites were sensitive artesunate than 6-hour-old ring stage parasites. The P. falciparum strains had significant differences of rosetting rate in vitro (P<0.05). Parasites showed different drug sensitivity profiles and were sensitive to both lumefantrine and artesunate. The early ring stage parasites had reduced sensitivity to artesunate compared to late ring stage. There was also a different rosetting rate between (3D7 and FVT201) strains. Key words: P. falciparum, drug sensitivity, in vitro, rosetting.