title: In vitro activity of quinolines against Plasmodium falciparum in Gabon.
abstract: The assessment of drug sensitivity of Plasmodium falciparum to antimalarial drugs is of vital interest for malaria endemic regions. We conducted a follow-up study to monitor the in vitro activity of the most commonly used quinolines against fresh P. falciparum isolates in Lambaréné, Gabon by measuring schizont maturation inhibition in 2002. Mean 50% effective concentration levels for chloroquine, quinine, and mefloquine were 5.5micromol/l blood, 286nmol/l blood medium mixture (BMM), and 1.1micromol/l blood, respectively. All isolates (n=40) were found to be highly resistant to chloroquine. One isolate was resistant to mefloquine and five isolates were presenting borderline-resistance. All isolates were inhibited by quinine concentrations below the threshold of resistance (n=43). Besides the observation of an increasing number of borderline resistant isolates to mefloquine, an extremly high parasite resistance to chloroquine-still officially the first line antimalarial in Gabon-seems to be of particular concern.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Institute for Tropical Medicine, University of Tübingen, Wilhelmstrasse 27, 72074, Tübingen, Germany. ramharter@gmx.at
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ramharter
authors.forename: W H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Wernsdorfer
authors.forename: P G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Kremsner
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D000962:Antimalarials / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004351:Drug Resistance; D005260:Female; D005681:Gabon; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000188:drug therapy; D008297:Male; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D011804:Quinolines / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000962:Antimalarials; D011804:Quinolines