Strong association, but incomplete correlation, between chloroquine resistance and allelic variation in the pfmdr-1 gene of Plasmodium falciparum isolates from India.
The increasing prevalence of chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum has complicated the control of falciparum malaria. It has been suggested that point mutations at nucleotide positions 754, 1049, 3598, 3622 and 4234 in the parasite's pfmdr-1 gene are associated with such resistance, although this is a matter of controversy. Eighteen chloroquine-sensitive and 22 resistant isolates of P. falciparum from India were investigated, to examine the role of the pfmdr-1 gene in the resistance, and to determine whether any of the point mutations could be used as a marker for the rapid identification of the chloroquine-resistant strains. As this investigation failed to reveal an explicit association between allelic variation in the pfmdr-1 gene and chloroquine resistance, the use of point mutations to identify the resistant strains does not appear feasible.
Bhattacharya
P R
PR
Malaria Research Centre, Delhi, India.
Pillai
C R
CR
D018528:ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters; D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D000962:Antimalarials / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002738:Chloroquine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007194:India; D007305:Insecticide Resistance / Q000235:genetics; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D017354:Point Mutation; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
D018528:ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters; D000962:Antimalarials; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; C059987:mdr gene protein, Plasmodium; D002738:Chloroquine