title: Chloroquine and acid vesicle function.
abstract: These studies suggest that the site of chloroquine action against the malaria parasite is the acid intracellular vesicle system, and that the critical first step in chloroquine action is to raise parasite vesicle pH. Measurements of acid vesicle buffering capacity and of 3H-chloroquine accumulation suggest that the parasite has a chloroquine-concentrating mechanism in its acid vesicles, although the molecule(s) responsible for this concentration has not been identified. Chloroquine resistance in P. falciparum results from rapid efflux of chloroquine from the resistant parasite. This phenomenon alone is sufficient to account for chloroquine resistance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO.
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Krogstad
authors.forename: P H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Schlesinger
authors.forename: I Y
authors.initials: IY
authors.lastname: Gluzman
mesh_terms: D000643:Ammonium Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D002738:Chloroquine / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004351:Drug Resistance; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D015388:Organelles / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000643:Ammonium Chloride; D002738:Chloroquine