title: Roxithromycin potentiates the effects of chloroquine and mefloquine on multidrug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum in vitro.
abstract: Chloroquine (CQ) and mefloquine (MQ) are no longer potent antimalarial drugs due to the emergence of resistant Plasmodium falciparum. Combination therapy has become the standard for many regimes in overcoming drug resistance. Roxithromycin (ROM), a known p-glycoprotein inhibitor, is reported to have antimalarial activity and it is hoped it will potentiate the effects of both CQ/MQ and reverse CQ/MQ-resistance. We assayed the effects of CQ and MQ individually and in combination with ROM on synchronized P. falciparum (Dd2 strain) cultures. The IC(50) values of CQ and MQ were 60.0+/-5.0 and 16.0+/-3.0 ng/ml; these were decreased substantially when combined with ROM. Isobolograms indicate that CQ-ROM combinations were relatively more synergistic (mean FICI 0.70) than MQ-ROM (mean FICI 0.85) with their synergistic effect at par with CQ-verapamil (VRP) (mean FICI 0.64) and MQ-VRP (mean FICI 0.60) combinations. We conclude that ROM potentiates the CQ/MQ response on multidrug-resistant P. falciparum.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia.
authors.forename: T H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Min
authors.forename: M F M
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Khairul
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Low
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Che Nasriyyah
authors.forename: A Noor
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: A'shikin
authors.forename: M N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Norazmi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ravichandran
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Raju
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000962:Antimalarials / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002738:Chloroquine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004351:Drug Resistance / Q000187:drug effects; D004357:Drug Synergism; D020128:Inhibitory Concentration 50; D015767:Mefloquine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D021261:Parasitic Sensitivity Tests; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000187:drug effects*; D015575:Roxithromycin / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000962:Antimalarials; D015575:Roxithromycin; D002738:Chloroquine; D015767:Mefloquine